


An Eternity of Misery

by Aly_Winchester



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst, Blood, Death, F/M, Fluff, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, Language, Love, Murder, Reincarnation, Slow Burn, Tension, Vampires, Violence, friendships, relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-24
Packaged: 2018-12-15 03:19:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 52,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11797323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aly_Winchester/pseuds/Aly_Winchester
Summary: Klaus Mikaelson had once been in love with Aila Bjornsson, but just over a hundred years after their transformation, she was killed by Mikael. Klaus was devastated and it was that act that truly spiraled him down into the life he is now living. Instead of making him weak like Mikael planned it, it just made him that much more desperate to fight and become the strongest man he could be. And he never said it, but deep down he knew he was doing it all for her. When 2009 Mystic Falls rolls around, he is a completely different man than the one that once loved Aila. He's never forgotten about her, but he knows that she is no longer the foremost thing on his mind. At least that is until he meets Arlie Gilbert, older twin sister of Elena...and an exact match for his Aila. While he knows she can't be a doppelgänger, it isn't clear exactly what she is. Is it a coincidence? Is it a cruel trick of fate? Or is she his Aila come back to him? Only time will tell, as Klaus finds himself on the opposite side of his war from her, despite the fact that he finds himself drawn to Arlie and wants to find out how she's connected to Aila. And how, exactly, she has much more power than she seems to be letting on, or even seems to know about.





	1. The Last Dance (part 1)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, all, and welcome to my new semi-AU story! I've been wanting to write an Klaus/OC story for AGES and just got around to it! So I have started watching The Originals, however, I have seen all of The Vampire Diaries. Since I know TVD more than TO, I'll be using TVD characters so I'll be putting this in the TVD category. Maybe once I watch more of TO, maybe I'll add more of those characters and change it to a cross-over, but for now it's just TVD. Couple notes: one) the rating is _subject to change_ depending on where the story takes me. And two) the story info will only be on this chapter as it will never change, but the chapter info will be different each one so it'll be on each chapter. Thanks everyone for reading! Hope you all enjoy! I would love to hear your reviews, thoughts, comments, and questions about this story!

**-Mystic Falls, Virginia 2010-  
-Klaus-**

Niklaus Mikaelson truly loathed the body he was currently inhabiting. While he wasn't incredibly vain in his own looks, he was still rather partial to the skin that he spent over a thousand years inhabiting. Plus, it was far more durable than the human he was wearing. He actually sneered at his reflection in the rearview mirror of the car he was driving, deciding he also hated the piece of junk that this history teacher deemed suitable to drive. Klaus had no problems affording the finer things in life after a thousand years of saving money, and always spent the most that he could on luxuries presented to him.

Sighing slightly, he finally pulled up outside of the Salvatore Boarding House where Katerina had said the local "Scooby gang," as she put it, usually congregated. He checked his outfit choices and the way his hair sat in the mirror one last time before he exited the car and headed inside. He rapped on the door twice, and then twice more before he opened in. Lucky for him, most of them were there, all standing in the foyer. Their eyes moved to him and his gaze lingered for a second on Elena before he looked to Damon as he spoke.

"There you are," Damon said.

"Sorry I'm late," Klaus/Alaric said, turning to shut the door behind him and hide the grin that threatened at the deliciousness of the situation. He could eavesdrop as much as he wanted to without worrying that they were going to get suspicious of him.

 _This is far too brilliant,_ he thought.

"Hey, I need you to put me down as a chaperone at the dance tonight. Klaus made his first move," Damon said, taking a couple steps closer too him. Klaus faltered for a split second before giving a sight nod.

"Okay, so we find him and then what, hmm? What's our plan of attack?" Elena wondered, arms crossing over her chest as she looked between her friends.

"Me." Bonnie shrugged. "I'm the plan. He has no idea how much power I can channel. If you can find him, I can kill him," she said.

The witch sounded incredibly confident and his eyes flickered over to her, casting a gaze along her. He knew of the Bennett witches, of course. The woman who had been a friend of his mother back in the day was an ancestor of Bonnie's. They were incredibly powerful, more so than even his mother, and he honestly didn't doubt that this young one had that kind of power, too. Not that it sat well with him, of course. Klaus took pride in the fact that he was invincible, and had no plans of dying anytime soon. He had a curse to break, hybrids to kill, and eventually a father to find. Mikael disappeared nearly twenty years ago, but Klaus wasn't ready to give up on finding him and ending him.

Just as he promised his siblings; Mikael had a war on his head raging for a thousand years now.

Ever since he killed  _her_.

"That's not going to be that easy," Klaus/Alaric said with a slight laugh. "I mean, he is the biggest, baddest vampire around." He scoffed and forced his thoughts away from that particularly rough subject, the one he hadn't allowed himself to think about or feel for going on five centuries now.

"Alaric has a point. I mean, what if he—" Damon stopped as he rushed at Bonnie in a flash, but she caught him as he was about two feet away. With a quirk of the eyebrow, she flung him to the other side of the room without breaking a sweat. Klaus resisted the urge to smirk and congratulate her as he raised an eyebrow, glancing at Stefan— _Hello, old friend,_ he thought—who mimicked his expression.

"Well, I was impressed," Stefan said, crossing his arms over his chest as he shrugged.

"It doesn't matter if he's an Original." She stepped closer to her friend. "I can take down anyone who comes at me. I can kill him, Elena. I know I can," Bonnie said, nodding to Elena and putting a hand on her arm.

Elena and Bonnie jumped when the door opened yet again, both of them freezing until they saw the girl currently entering the house. The fact that she didn't bother to knock or ask permission to enter seriously amused Klaus, but he didn't let it show as he saw Damon glower at the girl's back as she shut the door. She had her back to them and all Klaus could see was the wavy brown hair flowing down her back, the light denim skinny jeans, and the tight plain grey tank-top. She was shorter than Elena, but only by a couple inches, making her around the same height as Bonnie.

While he had heard a lot about some of these people from Katerina the night before after he compelled her to tell him, he didn't get the chance to see what they looked like. Other than Stefan and Elena, the others were all new faces to him. But he did know that the girl now entering was Arlene Gilbert, Elena's fraternal twin sister. He also knew that she liked to be called Arlie—and would punch anyone who called her Arlene—and she was the valedictorian of her class, maintaining her grades even with all the supernatural craziness that entered her life when the Salvatores came into town. The fact that Katerina knew so much about this group told him that she either observed them for a great amount of time, or simply did a lot of homework before interacting with them herself. Either one impressed Klaus even a little, but he would never admit it out loud.

"Thanks for waiting for me," Arlie bit out sarcastically and he knew it was directed at her sister.

Elena made a comment, but it was right then that Arlie spun around, a frown over her face and hands on her hips as she glowered at her sister. Klaus's body—or rather, the one he was using—went completely rigid, frozen as he stared in mute, almost horrified shock at the girl standing there. Not because she was terrible to look at or something to that effect, but rather because of who she looked like...who she was  _identical_ to, and it wasn't her twin sister.

Large brown eyes flickered between those standing there, and apparently whatever Elena said made her huff, roll her eyes, and say, "Unlike  _some_  people, I have extracurricular activities that I actually still go to." She flipped her long hair over her shoulder, crossing her arms over her chest, and strode over to stand by Bonnie and her sister, her arm brushing the sleeve of Klaus's coat and he was glad that he was wearing it as his arms prickled out in goosebumps. His heart pounded and for the first time in a millennia, split open and out spilled all the grief and despair he felt that day, all the guilt for not being able to save her.

 _Aila_ , he thought to himself breathlessly, his eyes unable to leave her as his mind melted to the days when they were together. When she was alive, when she was breathing, when she was in his arms.

* * *

**-Ancient Northern Germany, 1113-**

"Come with me, Niklaus."

The sound of his wife's voice drew him out of his thoughts and into the present. The Original vampire had been so focused on where to next run from Mikael that he hadn't even heard her enter until her voice met his ears. Blue eyes flickered up quickly and he couldn't help the adoring smile that crossed his lips as he took in her beautiful features.

Klaus paid no attention the handmaidens leaving the room as soon as the woman had entered, and he ignored the way their pulse jackhammered in their throats. While it had been quite a long time, so it seemed to him then, since he and his family were changed into vampires, it still was sometimes hard to control the urges. The worst of the lot was Kol who had spent the better part of a century slaughtering village after village, forcing them all to run. While Klaus wasn't necessarily against the slaughter—as he would have been previously to being turned—the only reason he didn't participate in the rather fun looking activities because of one single person.

Aila Bjornsson.

Well, most recently Aila  _Mikaelson_. It had occurred to the siblings that they had not had the chance to marry before all hell broke loose and because she did not share their last name, she was introduced as Klaus's mistress, which none of the Mikaelsons liked to do. So after nearly a hundred years at their sides, they finally married in a small gathering—with a compelled priest, of course—and she was able to become his wife rather than just his mistress, just like they should've done a century ago.

"For what, love?" he wondered, reaching his hand out for her. She took it without complaint and he drew her onto his lap, nuzzling into her neck softly as she settled there, smiling wider as he felt her sigh of contentment.

"Do I honestly need explain it to you?" she said teasingly with a matching grin. "Finn has already left with Elijah in tow, and Kol and Rebekah are leaving shortly to visit the village. This means, this entire castle is hours for the night." She leaned over and her blunt human teeth nipped his throat and he groaned softly. "So...come. Let us retire to our chambers and take advantage of this rare occasion."

And Klaus would like nothing more than to do so—after all, his wife looked absolutely beautiful in the new dressing gown she was wearing, probably courtesy of Rebekah—however, if he didn't finish planning this, and Mikael caught their scent, they were all dead.

"I need just a couple more hours, love," he said, and immediately her bottom lip jutted out in a pout. Klaus chuckled deeply and reached up to push it back in. "It is but early, and if you allow me to finish this task, I am yours for the rest of the night."

Aila seemed to be thinking about it, chocolate brown eyes searching over his navy blues, before finally she sighed. She slumped a little for a slight second, but then perked up and grinned at him. "Well, at least then I can get a bath around for us." She leaned in close to him. "Do not be late, dear husband." Her breath fanned over his ear and he shivered. The giggle she let out was full of so much innocence and so many wonderful promises. She leaned in and kissed him deeply, fingers winding into his shoulder-length blond curls, before she pulled back. With a quick wink, she vanished from the room, leaving him a bit shaken and more than a little distracted, so he had to force himself to get back to work.

It was Aila that he sought out after he was done, so late at that time of night, drawing in strength from the lack of sun. While, as Originals, they could withstand the rays of the sun unlike the other vampires that they made, Klaus felt his strongest at nighttime when the sun was gone and darkness swamped the land. It was his favorite time of day, especially when his siblings were elsewhere and he got the entire castle alone with his beloved, beautiful Aila. Not to mention, they could be as loud as they wanted with their love making without worrying about one of the others—usually Rebekah—making a fuss and yelling for them to be silent.

More than anything, he wanted to follow her after she had come to him earlier, but he had to finish. He finally made a plan and made a note to go over it with his family, but right then with them gone and the wait staff sworn to never speak a word of it, he sought out his wife to make good on her promise of having the night to themselves, starting with the bath she mentioned.

But to his surprise, she wasn't in their chambers when he entered. A deep frown overtook his face as he quickly flashed around the room and to nearby chambers to try and find her, even breaking into his siblings' rooms, but she was nowhere in sight. While part of him wondered if she was playing some type of game with him, deep down he knew that wasn't it. Dread, livid anger, and desperation curled in his stomach and his heart as he wildly ran through the halls until he finally ended up in the foyer.

Immediately his feet came to a halt, his heart beating roughly as his mind filled with denial and for the first time in over a hundred years, fear crept into his veins. He found Aila alright, but he also found someone else. Standing there holding his wife, one hand around her tightly by the neck and the other holding a white oak stake over her heart, was the very last person he ever wanted to see again, the only person who was ever in his nightmares.

 _Mikael_.

The look on his face was grim, but almost content as he finally got his hands on one of his illusive children. Well, close enough, because Aila was Klaus's heart and if Mikael had her, he might as well kill Klaus as well. Because he knows if she died that night, he would want to die as well.

"Klaus," she breathed out, her beautiful brown eyes wide with fright, but then she squeaked as Mikael shook her a bit and tightened his hold on her.

"Aila," he whispered right back, but his eyes hardened and turned blood red, veins appearing under them as he faced his father. " _Let her go_ ," he growled.

"This is your fault, Niklaus," Mikael said, ignoring what Klaus just said. "If you had not run, Aila would not be in this predicament. She could have been at peace a century ago." Klaus growled. "She deserves that. You see that, do you not? She is kind and smart, and very beautiful. She does not deserve to live the life of a monster because you are too selfish to let her go." He paused as Klaus growled again and stewed his own guilt that Mikael kicked up.

Of course Klaus thought about that. He always thought about that, every time he saw blood staining her lips or her clothing. Before they were turned, she refused to even eat meat because it harmed the animals. Eventually she grew ill and had to start again, but she cried each time she did it. With vampirism, eventually she grew used to it, at least Klaus thought so. She no longer cried, but in those one hundred years, she hadn't once killed anybody, unlike the rest of them. And Klaus didn't want to disappoint her, which is why he had held back his own impulses to join Kol on his rampages.

"She belongs with me," Klaus finally hissed, refusing to admit to Mikael just how much his words hurt, and the fact that he was right.

Mikael sighed. "Oh, Niklaus." He shook his head. "No, she does not. Because you do not deserve her. She deserves peace...and you deserve loneliness."

And with that, Mikael struck, bringing his arm up as Klaus roared, the stake shredding through the soft skin of her chest, breaking her sternum, and eventually burying in the strong muscle that held everything Klaus loved about this world. Her scream would forever haunt him, the same way her skin immediately began to grow grey. But the worst part of it? The way flames began to sprout from her body as if Mikael had tossed a flaming stick on her. But the man tossed her to the ground and backed away, flashing from the house as Klaus leapt after him.

He had to fight every instinct to go after him as he spun around and watched helplessly as his wife burned. Her eyes were wide with fright and pain, her body writhing and back arching as the flames spread from her chest and down her torso to her bottom half, then to her arms, and finally her face. A moment later her screams stopped and she was still, even as the flames licked her. Oddly, they didn't touch the floor she lay on, despite the fact that he could feel how hot the inferno was as it slowly began to die.

Tears crept down his cheeks, his beating heart breaking over and over again before being stomped under the hooves of horses and being dragged for miles, only to be blended under the heel of Mikael's boot. He didn't make a sound, though. Didn't say a word as he watched the flames slowly flicker out. Aila's body was still and silent, the stake that killed her just a burned out husk sticking from her chest. But despite the flames, she still looked like her, just much more fragile. Her eyes were closed, her clothing merely dust, the rest of her body charcoal. And yet, he could still see the lips he kissed so many times, the nose that he always annoyed her with by poking, the eyelids that always fluttered as they joined together in pleasure.

If Mikael wanted him broken before he killed him, it worked.

Klaus was shredded and he knew that he could never be whole again.

Slowly he moved closer, dropping to his knees and pulling her onto his lap. Her body creaked and cracked, but stayed together as he pulled her onto his lap. "Please," he whispered, his shaking fingers coming up to stroke over her chin softly. "Please, come back to me, Aila. Please, leave me not."

But of course, she didn't answer him. She was gone, his wife was dead, and now he was facing an eternity alone.

Klaus didn't know how long he sat there with her in his lap, his eyes eventually closing as he softly sobbed into her shoulder. The only thing that brought him out of it was the sound of Rebekah's scream. And even then he moved slowly, bringing his head up to see all of his siblings had come home together. Rebekah—the one closest to Aila besides himself—stood at the front. Her hands had flown to her mouth, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. His three brothers—even Kol—were standing behind her in varying stages of confusion, shock, and grief.

"Niklaus, what happened?" Elijah breathed.

Klaus sniffed and ever so gently, he set Aila back on the ground. He stroked back her burnt hair, tucking it behind what was left of her ears, kissed her lips one last time, before he finally stood. " _Mikael_ ," he hissed. The others were rightfully angered as Kol snarled and even Finn's eyes turned crimson. Klaus began to pace then, careful not to step on the hand that lay on the floor as if trying to reach for him, before finally stopping and looking at his siblings. His eyes were more angry than any of them had ever seen; they were livid. Aila had kept him calm and sated, but now that she was gone, Klaus's primal instincts were waking up. Despite the fact that the wolf was dormant in him, it was still very much apart of him, and it howled for vengeance for its mate.

For that's what she was; Aila was his soulmate.

"Mikael killed my wife," he hissed. " _Your_ sister-in-law. She is apart of our family, she is a  _Mikaelson_." He paused and his face turned devastated for a moment as he gazed down at her broken figure. " _Was_ a Mikaelson," he whispered. He swallowed thickly and wiped away that look before he looked back up to his siblings. "Well, if Mikael wanted a fight, he has got it now." His eyes grew critical as he looked around.

" _It is time to go to war_."

* * *

**-Mystic Falls, Virginia 2010-**

Klaus was drawn out of his thoughts when his name was repeated for the fifth time. Well, not his name, but the name of the body he was wearing. He blinked once and then twice before he finally glanced away from Arlie—who was staring at him with a raised eyebrow—and over to Elena and Bonnie who looked concerned. For a moment he didn't know what to say and that frustrated him to no end; a thousand year old Original didn't get tongue tied. But then again, it wasn't as if it were every day that they came face to face with a girl who was a spitting image of their dead wife.

Forcing himself to push it away, he cleared his throat and locked his arms behind his back, raising an eyebrow at the others, forcing himself to keep his gaze impassive and away from Arlie. "I was just thinking that this can all go horribly wrong," he explained, his gaze moving to Damon who rolled his eyes. "Think about it. We have no idea what he looks like, or if he will be alone."

"It's the chance we have to take," Stefan said. "It's now or never. If we don't, he'll go after Elena, and I won't let that happen."

"Here here," Arlie said and Klaus's heart jumped, though he furiously shoved it back down as he gazed at her, though he wouldn't lie and say he didn't take that moment to drink up her beautiful face.

Just like the doppelgängers, every part of her was the same. The shape of her nose and lips, the roundness of her eyes and the deep chocolate setting of them, the way her hair fell across her forehead and cheeks, the gentle jut of her chin, and the cute little mole just to the left of her lips. Every inch of her face and body, he knew. There wasn't a part of her that he hadn't sampled those nine hundred years ago. And even though it had been so long, there wasn't a part of him that didn't remember vividly every touch, every caress, every noise, every word that she bestowed him with the honor of hearing or feeling.

And he wasn't stubborn enough to pretend that he didn't miss her. He missed her with every part of himself; he ached with it. But he  _was_ stubborn enough to push those feelings away and focus instead on the issues at hand. Arlie might look like Aila, but she wasn't. Just like Elena wasn't Katerina. There had to be some odd doppelgänger power going on here, but he wasn't sure how. Still, he knew that Elena was who he as supposed to kill. It was the Petrova line that made them and put the curse on him, and it would be the Petrova line that took it off.

And even if it was Arlie that was supposed to die, he was fairly certain he would live with his curse for the rest of his life rather than kill her; he couldn't watch that face die, not again, not after the sight of Aila burning haunted his nightmares so many thousands,  _hundreds_ of thousands, of times over the years.

"So what's my job in all this?" Arlie asked, turning to Damon who snorted.

"Staying home like a good little human; there's nothing you can do to help, so stay home and keep out of it."

Arlie squawked and glared at him, uncrossing her arms to put her hands on her hips. "I don't fucking think so!" she snapped, her eyes blazing. "My sister and best friend are going to be there risking their lives. I'm not going to stay home and 'stay safe' and 'keep out of it,' Damon.  _I'm going_ , even if I can't help,  _I'm going to help_." She glared the younger vampire down, her eyes practically begging him to argue, before he finally groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Fine. But if you die, I'm gonna bring you back and kill you all over again for being stupid."

Arlie huffed. "You're such an asshole," she mumbled, turning on her heel and stalking off towards the kitchen.

"Stay out of my bourbon!" Damon yelled.

"Fuck you!" Arlie yelled right back.

Klaus couldn't help but smirk.

_That's my girl._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outfits for chapter one:
> 
> \- [Arlie - Boardinghouse](https://www.polyvore.com/arlie_chapter_one_an_eternity/set?id=226606801)  
> \- [Aila - Death](https://www.polyvore.com/aila_chapter_one_an_eternity/set?id=226624955)


	2. The Last Dance (part 2)

**-Arlie-**

Okay, so Arlie knew she had a bit of a mouth on her, and she had absolutely no problem admitting it. The only times she got in trouble in school were because she didn't know when to shut up, whether it be because she wasn't afraid to tell others her opinion, or because she used a few too many "colorful" words, as her dad used to put it. Despite the fact that her parents had, once or twice—or five times—been called to the principal's office to talk about her "use of explicit language," she also was fairly certain that there wouldn't be anything done to her above a slap on the wrist. Plus they knew she wasn't trying to act our or anything, it's just sometimes things got heated and/or passionate and it slipped. And the fact that she didn't drink, hang out with the druggies, or let her grades slip was enough to get her a free pass.

However, she let out a string of said explicit language when she realized that her sister had taken off with Stefan and Bonnie back to the boarding house which meant she had to walk. She knew Matt was still there, but she didn't want to interrupt what was surely some kind of quarter-life crisis that somehow had to do with Caroline as he had been acting weird lately. Arlie was the older of the four friends—having come out eight point seven six minutes before Elena, thank you very much—and always took it upon herself to take care of her sister and their friends. So when Matt started acting weird, she zeroed in on it for Caroline's sake.

But unlike usual, she didn't say anything outright. Considering how weird other things in her life was, she didn't blame him for being a little twitchy. Not that he knew about vampires, of course. Caroline made sure of that. And Arlie could only hope that it stayed that way; if she weren't so nosy, she wouldn't know about them either, and her life would be a helluva a lot easier. But since it had to do with Elena, than Arlie made sure it had to do with her as well. Elena's business was her business, and vice versa.

To her annoyance, when she did finally manage to make it to the boarding house, the conversation was nearly over and he had no input on it. Part of her wanted to deny any of them were getting involved, including Stefan and Damon if it came down to it—though sometimes she could give or take Damon...usually  _give_ —just so nobody got hurt. But, as usual, her input wasn't needed and she felt very proud of herself for telling off Damon like she had, smirking to herself as she stomped into the kitchen.

While she wouldn't touch his precious bourbon—it was gross anyway—she was going to make a pot of coffee. The night before her different activities, she usually didn't sleep very well. That day it happened to be scholastics club of which she was the president, and she had no plans on letting these stupid vampires mess up her chance of going to Dartmouth. It was something she and her dad talked about ever since she was younger, and didn't want to let him down, even though he wasn't around anymore. She was doing it for herself, but she was doing it for him as well. Eventually, she wanted to become a doctor just like him. She was pretty sure Elena did as well, but her twin didn't really confirm or deny it.

As the coffee was brewing, she heard the sound of a throat being cleared, and she jumped, spinning as she was pulled out of her thoughts. She gave a quiet laugh as she saw it was just Alaric and gave him a small smile as she turned to begin searching for her favorite mug, the one that was mostly white with a blue loading bar in the center at seventy-five percent and the words "Please wait...sarcasm still loading" written on it. Damon had gotten it for her as a gag gift, but she wound up loving it and he hated that so she was thrilled.

"Hey, Ric," she said, humming slightly as she went searching for her dulce de leche coffee creamer that she stored there instead of home because otherwise Jeremy would drink it. She made a soft "ah ha!" as she found it shoved behind a couple blood bags in the fridge. She moved back over to the pot and huffed slightly as it still wasn't done, but turned so she was leaning against the counter, palms flat on the surface behind her. "So," she started, "you really think this is a lost cause?" She shrugged. "I mean, Bonnie's got all those witches on her side. I guess they all want him dead." Another shrug. "I think she's more powerful than anybody realizes."

When the coffee pot behind her stopped humming, she spun and let out a happy little squeak and immediately began pouring into her mug. Coffee in about three-quarters of the mug, the rest filled with the creamer, and then four spoonfuls of sugar. She sighed happily as she turned, but jumped slightly again when she saw Alaric, but this time he was much closer, just a couple feet away, leaning against the counter and looking at her silently. She chuckled softly and reached up to push her hair behind her ears, not seeing the way his eyes followed the movement.

"I have no idea why I'm so jumpy," she murmured.

"Could it be the coffee?" he wondered, raising an eyebrow as he gestured to her mug.

She shook her head. "You know me, Ric. There's coffee in my veins. If I don't get my twelve cups a day, then I can't function." She paused. "Especially on 'extracurriculars' day."

"With that much sugar, I'm not surprised you need twelve cups a day. Surely you don't even sleep."

She snorted as she took a sip, not even bothering to blow on it to cool it off. "Well, you're not wrong," she muttered, causing him to frown and she shrugged again. "Maybe if I don't sleep, I can get all the shit done that I needed to." She grinned. "Good dream, though, right?" She chuckled again. "Now, did you see where my dear ol' sister got off to? I guess Stefan has some clothes from his relatives left that he's letting us borrow."

Alaric stood up again, once more locking his hands behind his back and gestured with his head up to the ceiling. "I believe I saw them heading upstairs just a few moments ago."

Arlie nodded. "Thanks! See you there?" Alaric nodded silently. Arlie grinned and reached over to squeeze his arm, not catching the way he went rigid, before she passed by him and headed up the stairs to find her sister and Stefan. But unlucky for her, she walked in just as they started kissing and she faked a gag as she stood against the door, sipping on her coffee. Elena spun to her with an irritated look on her face and Arlie grinned.

"Oh, please." She gestured with her free hand. "Don't stop on my account." She raised her eyebrow and took another sip.

"You're a brat," Elena muttered as she turned to the dresses she had in her hands. Arlie merely chuckled. "What do you think of these?" Elena held up both dresses and Arlie immediately pointed to the purple-ish one with the white belt.

"For sure," she said. "It would look great with your skin tone." She nodded and took a step in, putting her coffee mug on Stefan's table before she headed over to look over the dresses.

It wasn't too hard to find one for her; she wasn't too picky. Normally she was just a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl, but sometimes she branched out depending on her mood. And since it was for a dance, she had to be in a mood for a dress, and so she picked one out that was mainly black with a multi-colored flowered pattern on it, and the bottom half was held onto the top half by a series of black plastic rings around it. She also found a pair of knee-high white go-go boots that matched the ones Elena found, but she knew she'd be doing her hair a bit differently. Mostly in that she'd leave it as it was—down and wavy around her back and shoulders—and then just tie a white scarf into her hair to match the boots.

"Perfect," her sister commented with a smile and Arlie spun, both girls giggling as Elena did the same in her dress.

"You both look stunning," Stefan said with a smile. Elena kissed him softly and Arlie gave him a friendly punch on the arm before he laughed and gave her a hug.

"Quit flirting and let's go!" Damon called up the stairs causing Arlie's smile to fall and she groaned.

"Can we just like hope for a splinter or something so he'll shut up?" she mumbled, causing the other two to laugh and Damon to make a scoffing sound from downstairs, telling Arlie that he heard her. She smirked.

Leading their trio out of the room, Arlie finished up her coffee and left the mug on a table, much to Damon's annoyance. She simply smirked at him and headed out of the house and to his Camaro that they would all be riding in. Arlie sighed and manned up, taking the passenger seat so Stefan and Elena could play tonsil hockey in the backseat. To ignore that and Damon both, she kept her eyes glued to her phone, talking between Bonnie and Jeremy about what would be happening that night.

The Camaro pulled up outside and Stefan and Elena climbed out, immediately clinging to each other and heading inside making Arlie roll her eyes as she glance at Damon who also looked a bit disgusted, though she was sure that had more to do with the fact that he would rather be the one on Elena's arm. Arlie simply waved goodbye to him and moved into the school, avoiding kissing couples and stupid jocks who thought sneaking a keg in under a blanket would be a good idea. She rolled her eyes and followed the line of students into the gym, smiling at the sound of the music pumping out of the speakers.

Immediately she was swept up into the night, forgoing the spiked punch (or the keg "hidden" outside) and instead decided to go for a glass of sparkling cider that the cheerleaders were busy handing out in exchange for a dollar that would be donated to the food bank in the neighboring town. Arlie sipped at it slowly as she bobbed her head to the music, body gently moving as she danced lightly through the crowd, smiling at people now and then as they said hello to her, waving to a couple others that she knew a bit more personally. Eventually she came across a guy—Randy Fuller—that she never dated even though he asked her out about five times, and agreed to a dance with him.

Of course, since it was her luck, the next song happened to be a slow song and she rolled her eyes as she continually had to reach back and yank his hand off her butt. The guy was smirking at her and did it one more time until their dance was interrupted by his wrist being grabbed, causing him to let out a surprised grunt, face going fearful and ashen as he stared at the person behind her. Arlie looked up into the seriously pissed off face of Alaric, eyes widening as he nearly sneered at Randy.

"I believe the lady has done more than enough to indicate she doesn't want you to touch her. I suggest you leave before I break your wrist." His voice was almost a hiss and Arlie raised an eyebrow as Randy nodded, muttered out a reply, and hightailed it out of there. Arlie wasn't surprised because not only was Alaric a teacher who looked seriously scary at the moment, but Randy was also a football player and if his wrist was broken—and in that moment Arlie had no doubt Ric would go through with his word—then he would be out for the rest of his high school career.

"Ohhh...kay then," Arlie drawled slowly, nodding to Ric with a slight shrug. "Remind me never to piss you off, Ric." She chuckled lightly, but Alaric looked less than pleased as finally his attention was turned back to her and he set his hands gently on her shoulders.

"Are you alright, love?" he asked.

Arlie raised an eyebrow again at his words, realizing how odd he sounded, but she nodded nonetheless.

"Fine," she said with a shrug. "Not like it isn't the first time. I mean, have you even  _seen_ my ass? 'Course he wanted to touch it." She patted her butt and nodded, grinning up at him as she tried to lighten the mood.

He studied her for a moment, obviously trying to decide if she was serious, before laughing softly, glancing down at their feet as he removed his hands and put them behind his back. "Well, I can't say that I've ever thought that—"

"—which is a relief," she interrupted.

"—but it's good to know you have a lovely sense of humor," he finished.

She grinned. "You should know that about me by now. The only things I take seriously are baking, crossword puzzles, and my siblings' safety."

"I suppose there could be worse things to take seriously."

"Exactly, and this whole Klaus business is seriously impairing my ability to giggle. I mean, the psycho's trying to kill my sister." She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, not noticing the way his face changed in a split second when she said "Klaus" and then when she called him "the psycho." Arlie sighed. "But hey, that's for later if he decides to show his face." She glanced around. "I don't see anything off, though. I recognize everyone here."

"I guess we just have to keep an eye out," Alaric said, voice strained, and Arlie was too busy looking around for anything out of the ordinary to notice the change.

"Right," she said absently. "Well, I see Elena and Stefan. I think they spotted Caroline so I'm going to go help catch them up." She looked up at Alaric and then quickly tugged him into a hug, feeling his body go rigid, but mentally shrugging. "Thanks again, Ric." She grinned and then turned and hurried off in the direction of Elena, unaware that he was watching her walk away.

Off to the side she saw her little brother and Bonnie dancing while Stefan and Elena had stopped and headed for Caroline and Matt who were arriving. Elena glanced over at Arlie as she appeared and smiled slightly, Arlie hooking her arm through her twin's.

"Caroline's here. They don't know what's going on. We have to tell her," the younger twin said.

"I'm on it." Stefan kissed Elena's forehead and moved away to intercept the blonde vampire and her date, gesturing Damon over to Elena and Arlie. But honestly, Arlie knew that if Elena weren't there, she wouldn't even be included in that equation. And part of it always made her bitter. She was never the one people chose. Jeremy was the baby and the only boy. Elena was the pretty, popular one. If anything, Arlie was the sarcastic geek that people put up with because of Elena. For once in her life, Arlie wanted someone to be there because of  _her_. She wanted to be the first thing someone thought about, the one that they would give the earth to.

But Arlie knew that was a pipe dream.

She never had that, and never would.

To hide her sudden anxiety, she gave Damon a once over and raised an eyebrow. "This is a sixties decade dance, not an eighties biker-bar dance."

Damon gave a fake laugh and then glared at her. "You're  _hilarious_." He turned to Elena then, holding out his hand. "Dance?"

Elena eyed Arlie and the older twin nodded. "Go for it, little sister. I'll go find Jeremy and the punch bowl."

The younger twin sighed, but nodded and followed Damon out onto the dance floor. Arlie watched them for a moment, thinking about how she desperately would love to keep Elena away from Damon. Truthfully, she had wanted the same thing with Stefan when she found out what he was, but deep down he was a good man, despite the issues he sometimes had with self-control. Though honestly, she thought Elena was going a bit overboard about the whole "drinking blood" thing. After all, he was a vampire, what did she expect him to drink, piña coladas? Still, she supposed she understood a little bit, and just shook her head at the thought as she waded through the dangers over to the punch bowl.

She frowned as she looked between the bowl—the one she had previously thought spiked—and her little brother, opening her mouth to do the big sister speech, but he shook his head with a small grin. "Save it, it's new punch. Randy Fuller drank the rest of the spiked stuff."

Arlie rolled her eyes. "'Course he did," she muttered.

Jeremy frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" His voice was a bit threatening as his brown eyes flickered over to Randy Fuller who was trying to dance up to another girl and Arlie couldn't help but think to herself,  _Oh, please. Boy gets around more than a prostitute._

She shrugged. "Tell ya later."

If there was one thing Jeremy was, it was overprotective. And yeah most of the time it was directed at Elena, but if there was one person Arlie knew truly cared about her, it was Jeremy. And that did make her feel good, to know she'd always have her little brother.

Arlie opened her mouth once more, but then Elena arrived by them, a curious frown on her face as she looked into the crowd, and Arlie looked over realizing that Damon was now dancing with Bonnie.

"What are they up to?" Arlie asked.

Jeremy shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Is there something going on, Jer?" Elena wondered.

"You okay?" Arlie asked at the same time.

"Fine. I'm fine," he said, directing it to both of his sisters. He let out a small, exasperated sigh, and they knew that that wasn't the end of it. From the unhappy looks on Bonnie and Damon's faces, and the nearly identical one on Jeremy's, Arlie would bet her left kidney that it had something to do with this whole "killing Klaus with magic" plan they had going on that night. And all Arlie could do was sigh as Jeremy walked away, heading out the doors and she glanced at Elena for a moment before Stefan arrived again.

"Everything all right?" he wondered.

"I'm not sure," Elena said.

"He's acting weird," Arlie input. "I think it has something to do with that." She gestured to Damon and Bonnie, of which made Stefan frown, and he moved off to follow Jeremy out into the hallway.

Arlie stayed where she was, becoming a wall-flower and blending in with the punch bowl—not wanting another Randy Fuller incident—as Stefan came back in to lead Elena off to talk about something.  _Left out of the loop again_ , she thought glumly to herself. Though she figured she should be used to it, sometimes it effected her more than other times. Like that night, her sister was in danger, and they left her standing by the punch. Something could've even happened to Jeremy, and she wouldn't know until second hand. It was hard for her to accept, but it was where she was meant to be. In the background, helping Elena and Jeremy live. As the oldest, despite just the six minute difference between the two, she always knew she had to look out for her siblings.

And so, just like always, she sucked it up and stopped feeling sorry for herself. She stopped wallowing in her self pity, holding her head high as she stalked outside, just as Alaric was running out of another door and straight for Elena and Bonnie who were talking, both looking like they just ran an emotional mile.

"Elena!" Alaric exclaimed, hesitating for a moment as he saw Arlie hurry over, before he focused his attention on Elena.

"What is it?" Elena immediately asked, her voice changing to concerned sister.

"He has Jeremy," he said breathlessly.

"What?!" both sisters and Bonnie exclaimed in shocked unison. Arlie felt her heart beat much quicker and the adrenaline kicked in. She knew that if Damon and/or Stefan were there, they would try and send her back to the dance, but there was no way she was going to give in. This was Jeremy, her little brother and, for all intents and purposes, her best friend. There wouldn't be any way that she was going to just stand back and watch as some psycho Original vampire tried to kill him. Or worse...succeeded.

"Yeah, Klaus has Jeremy. Come on!" He gave a long glance to Arlie, seemingly fighting with himself over something before his face became a look of resolve and he quickly hurried them inside through the door he came out of and back into the hallway. Arlie looked around quickly, trying to find any sign of Jeremy or anything off that might have the Original's name all over it, but so far, nothing.

"Okay, so where are you taking us?" Arlie demanded, her voice tight as her fear showed. While she could very well hide it, the other three would know how afraid she was, so she didn't even try.

"Just a little further," Alaric said, his voice odd, but Arlie was too focused on finding Jeremy to worry about it.

Though, apparently, her sister wasn't. "Wait...something's not right," Elena said as she slowed down.

"Where's Jeremy?" Bonnie demanded.

"I just had to get away from that dance. The sixties, ugh. Not my decade." Alaric laughs and all three girls looked at him with puzzled frowns, exchanging a look. "I mean, whose call was that, anyway? I much prefer the twenties. The style, the parties, the jazz."

"Alaric. Are you on vervain?"

"Now why would you ask me that question, Elena?"

"He's being compelled," Arlie said.

"Nope. Try again."

"What's going on?"

"Okay, I'll give you a hint." He raised an eyebrow. "I am  _not_  Alaric."

For a moment all three of them stared at him, trying to figure out, and Arlie glanced over at Bonnie, who looked as lost as she did. But a moment later, Elena seemed to get it and her eyes widened in fear and she took a step back closer to Arlie. "Klaus!"

Alaric...or rather  _Klaus_ smiled brightly. "Surprise!"

"Oh, no. No, it's not possible."

"Just relax, Elena. I'm not here to hurt you. You're not on my hit list tonight." His eyes flickered to Bonnie and he smirked. "But you are."

"Like hell! Leave her alone!" Arlie said, stepping in front of Bonnie, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion as he stopped in his tracks, and unfamiliar look flickering over his face as he looked at her, almost as if he didn't want to or was trying to talk himself into it, and it seemed the second emotion won out when he stepped towards them once more. But Bonnie stepped up next to her and put up her hand, Arlie jumping as Klaus as tossed back against the wall. For a moment she thought that was that, but he groaned ever so slightly and stood up, smirking once again.

"Now, did I mention that I knew a witch? You're gonna have to hit me a lot harder than that," he taunted. He quickly got himself together and rushed over to them again, but she does it again, this time into the display case which smashed the glass, Arlie jumping again. While that would've made even Stefan or Damon winced, Klaus merely laughs and gets up once more.

"By all means...fire away!" he exclaimed. "If you kill this body, I'll just get a new one." He paused. "Maybe Jeremy."

"Go. Run. Run!" Bonnie gestured them towards the door and Arlie grabbed Elena's hand, tugging her away from the Original. Elena only hesitated for a split second—after all, Alaric was still in there somewhere—before she ran with Arlie and Bonnie through the doors. Air pumped out of Arlie's lungs quickly, both in fear of Klaus following them and from the rush of adrenaline in her. They skidded to a halt outside the doors as Damon came running up, and Bonnie slammed the doors shut with her powers, locking them.

"What happened?" Damon demanded, icy eyes flickering over the three girls.

"Klaus is in Alaric's body," Arlie rushed out, panting in a breathless voice.

"What?" he demanded in confusion.

"He's possessing it or something," Bonnie said, voice showing the frustration that all of them were feeling, none more so than Arlie. She was completely helpless here. Arlie was just human, plain and simple. She wasn't a witch like Bonnie; a vampire like Damon, Stefan, and Caroline; not a doppelgänger like Elena. She was just human, no special skills, and yet she wanted to change the world, particularly the new world in which her siblings lived where monsters were real and her twin was in love with one. Then again, she knew Stefan wasn't in that category.

"Go find Stefan. Now."

"Okay," Elena said nodding.

But Arlie shook her head. "But—"

" _Now_ ," Damon interrupted, eyes telling her very clearly that he wasn't in the mood to argue, and he shoved her towards Elena. She squawked and tried to rush out some words in indignation, but Elena grabbed her arm and yanked her away. Finally she sighed and gave up, quickly rushing after her sister in search for Stefan.

They wound up back on the dance floor, identical brown eyes searching around for the younger Salvatore. He was nowhere in sight and frankly neither was Jeremy, which Arlie hoped was a good thing. She didn't want him anywhere near this fight. And she hoped he went home to wallow in...whatever it was he was wallowing in, brought out of her thoughts as Elena stepped away from her.

"Should we split up?" Arlie wondered.

Elena shook her head. "No way. It's too dangerous, and I don't want you hurt either."

Arlie sighed. "I'll be fine, Lena."

"No splitting up," Elena said, giving her a look that said  _"and that's final."_ Arlie simply raised her hands in defeat and allowed her twin to drag her over to where she had spotted Caroline and Matt across the dance floor.

"Hey! Are you okay?" the blonde asked, her eyes betraying her worry even though her tone was causal.

"Um...Yeah. I'm just...we're looking for Stefan," Elena said with a pressed smile. Her smile faded as Arlie pointed over Caroline's head at Stefan who was coming back into the gym, eyes searching around, clearly looking for Elena.

"Seriously, what's wrong?" Caroline demanded, but Elena just gave her another pressed smile.

"Uh...just...um...just stay with Matt, okay?" Arlie said, nodding as the sisters headed around them and over to Stefan in the doorway.

Immediately he spotted them and rushed over, using a speed that was far less human, but everyone around them was too busy with the dance to pay any attention to him. He grabbed Elena up in a hug and shot Arlie a small smile before he pulled back and put a hand on each of their shoulders, worried green eyes looking the sisters over. For a moment Arlie was a bit stunned because she wondered if that look meant he actually cared about her, but then she realized it simply boiled down to Elena and she forced herself to focus on the issues at hand.

"What's happened?" he asked and Elena launched into the whole story, ending with Damon sending them away to find him. Stefan looked more than a bit confused, shocked, and worried and he nodded, putting an arm around Elena's shoulder and a hand on Arlie's arm, looking around them quickly before leading them out into the hallway.

"What are we going to do?" Arlie demanded. "I mean, do we really think that Bonnie can kill him? Will it hurt Alaric?" Elena and Stefan exchanged a glance and Arlie paused, making the other two halt as well, and put her hands on her hips. " _What_? What aren't you telling me?"

"Arlie..." Stefan murmured, glancing to Elena.

Elena sighed and took a step forward, taking forward and grabbing Arlie's hands. "Arlie..."

"Yeah, he said that," she snapped, gesturing to Stefan with her head, who smartly looked away.

Elena frowned. "Arlie, if Bonnie does this and kills Klaus with her magic..." She took a deep breath. "She'll die."

Arlie was quiet for a long moment, staring at her in shocked silence before a look of disgust, anger, and betrayal fell over her face and she ripped her hands out of her sister's grip. "What?!" she snarled. "And none of you thought that this would be something that I needed to know? She's my friend, too!"

"I know, and I didn't know until just a little bit ago—"

"You mean when you dragged her outside?" she interrupted in a demand. "When I was standing  _right there_ and you could've told me, too?" She groaned. "I don't fucking  _believe_ this!"

"We were just trying to protect you," Elena tried, but Arlie scoffed and waved her away.

"I don't need  _protecting,_ Elena! I need to know what's  _happening_! I even found out about the vampire thing after Jeremy did."

"Technically, he found out on his own..." Stefan said, trailing off and looking away at Arlie's death glare.

"There's no  _technically_ here," she snapped. "My point is that you used to tell me everything. And now all of a sudden I barely know  _half_ of what's going on with you. You're my  _sister_ and as much as you want to protect me, I want to protect you."  _Probably even more_ , she thought. "I need to know these things, Elena."

"Okay, okay," Elena murmured, taking her hands again and squeezing before Arlie could pull away. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'll keep you more in the loop and I won't hide anything anymore. Deal?"

Arlie sighed and studied her twin's face for a moment, looking for any sort of lie, but found only truth. Her shoulders slumped and she pulled Elena into a tight hug, squeezing her twin for all she was worth and resisting the urge to let out a few tears over the situation. As always, she would cry later in secret, no matter what the outcome was. She never let Elena or Jeremy or anyone see those tears. She had to be strong for them, and she  _would_. But right now, they had to go save their friend.

"Deal," she whispered to her. She felt Elena smile against her shoulder and she smiled, too, though it faded as another figure entered the hallway and she tensed, though eased up a bit when she saw it was just Damon.

"There you are," he complained, ruining their moment. The sisters broke apart and Elena looked over at him with a deep, panicked frown.

"What are you doing? Where's Bonnie?" she demanded.

"She's doing what she has to do," Damon said evasively and Arlie felt a sick feeling curl in her stomach because she knew exactly what that meant.

"What?" Arlie said.

"Where is she?" Stefan demanded.

"Stefan, let her do this," Damon sighed.

"Damn it, Damon, where is she?!"

Damon rolled his eyes, but sighed and gestured with his head for everyone to follow him. They skidded to a quick halt outside the cafeteria, about to enter, but when Bonnie's eyes found them, the doors slammed shut and stayed that way, no matter how many times Arlie, Elena, or Stefan hit or kicked at them.

"Bonnie, no!" Elena begged.

Arlie could see Klaus crawling across the floor, Bonnie trying to push at him as the Original groaned in pain. The lights started to burst sending a shower of sparks over the room and she heard her sister scream, while her focus stayed on trying to get through those damn doors. At one point she thought it budged an inch, but it quickly slammed shut again. Elena had taken to just begging with Bonnie while Stefan worked with Arlie to try and get the doors open.

But as if in slow motion, the three saw Klaus stand and Bonnie faced him, obviously trying hard to send out as much magic as she could. For a second she looked back, her eyes moving between Elena and Arlie and she gave them a small, sad smile. That was when Arlie knew it was over. She could tell on Bonnie's face that the other girl  _knew_ she was going to die. And that's when she stopped banging at the door, just stood there in shocked silence as her sister screamed, as Stefan continued to push at the door, and then as Bonnie's body jerked backwards...and fell to the floor.

Her body was still and suddenly everything stopped, the lights and the rush of wind. Klaus was gone, and Bonnie was laying there, eyes open and glassy to the rest of the world as the doors sprung open upon Stefan's push and the three were finally able to get inside the room.

"No! Oh! Bonnie! Bonnie, Bonnie! Bonnie! Hey, hey," she begged.

Her voice and body trembled and Arlie quickly fell to the other side, but unlike Elena, she was silent. She could see that her friend was gone, and for the first time in her life...she cried. She cried in front of everyone, in front of Elena and Stefan, in front of a dead Bonnie, and in front of the world, showing just how weak she really was. All her life she pretended to be strong for her siblings, she pretended to be the protector, she pretended that nothing ever hurt her. But the truth of it was showing now, just how much she felt and just how much hit her. This wasn't about her own self-pity or Elena's safety, this was about losing a friend, one of the best friends she would ever had.

Bonnie was dead.

Arlie couldn't save her.

And so she cried.

"Stefan, she's not breathing!" she sobbed, her hands shaking as she reached down and tried to find a pulse, leaning over again to listen at her mouth.

Stefan! Stefan, I can't find her pulse! Stefan! Do something, please! Stefan, please! Just give her blood, do something, please!"

Arlie could barely hear her sister's words, just stared in mute horror and sadness at the girl.

Stefan slowly looked up at Elena and shook his head. "It's too late. I'm sorry."

Elena sobs harder, shaking her head in disbelief as she brought up her arm, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth. "No! No. No, no, no, no, no! Bonnie! Bonnie, please, no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

Arlie was the only one who noticed Damon arrive at first, but when her eyes caught his, her own burned with fury. While it wasn't fair to blame him, she did. He was the one that sent her off to die. He could've saved her, but he didn't. He sat back as she took on a thousand year old vampire with unimaginable power, and paid the price for it. A seventeen year old girl against a thousand year old vampire...what did he  _think_ was going to happen? Arlie's heart might be breaking, but her body trembled with anger as she stood. Damon's eyes never left hers as he spoke, eyeing the way her hands were curled into fists.

"Stefan, get Elena and Arlie out of here. I'll deal with the body."

"What do you mean, 'deal with it'?" Elena demanded.

"The sheriff can't know about this. Last thing we need's another mysterious death."

"This is Bonnie!" Elena said, turning to glare up at him and then looked back down to her friend, letting out another sob and pulling her closer.

"Get them home. Now. So I can clean this up," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

Stefan sighed, but stood and reached for Elena, helping her stand, though she fought him. Finally Arlie moved and silently went over to help, clutching onto her sister tightly. "Hey, hey, hey," he murmured.

"No," she denied, before her eyes went wide. "Jeremy. Oh, my God, Jeremy. What about Jeremy?"

"I'll find him," Damon said. Arlie still threw daggers at him, yet she gave him a silent command with her look:  _"Be nice or I will seriously kill you."_ He just gave a single nod to show he understood.

Finally the three of them get moving, Elena screaming and crying in between Stefan and Arlie as she tried to turn back and look at Bonnie's body. Arlie kept her glassy eyes straight forward as they helped her out of the cafeteria and into the hall, slowly making their way for the exit. What had started out as a semi-fun night—sans the Randy Fuller incident—turned into a night of horror and heartbreak. Arlie could feel her heart beat erratically, feel the way it thumped painfully against her sternum, and then broke all over again as she thought back to the still body of her friend, the powerful Bennett witch that ended too soon. But she felt herself grow numb, the same way she had when her parents died, not allowing herself to think about it because it was simply too much to bare.

* * *

Elena didn't want to go home and Arlie didn't want to go to the boarding house, so they split up once they got back to their house.

"I'll be fine," Arlie murmured to Stefan who had walked her up to the front steps. He didn't look convinced, worry and sadness blanketing his face, but slowly he nodded even as he pulled her into a quick, friendly, supportive hug. While she knew that he didn't think she should be alone, she also knew he wasn't going to be offering to stay. Elena was his priority, and she was sitting back in the car, tears still rolling down her face even though the crying had stopped. And Arlie was okay with being alone. After all, she usually was. "Just take care of my sister."

Stefan nodded. "Of course," he murmured. He gave her a small smile, patted her arm, and then headed back to take Elena back to the boarding house.

Arlie numbly walked inside and didn't even realize what she was doing until she was half-way through washing her hair. She finished up, conditioned it, washed her body, and then climbed out. Wrapping a towel around her, she was glad once again that the house was empty because unlike Elena and Jeremy's rooms, hers wasn't connected to the bathroom by a door. She had to walk across the hall to get back to hers so she usually brought clothes with her, but apparently her mind wasn't thinking so far into that that night. Still, with the silent house, she walked slowly, watching her feet on the wood floors create little puddles of water, before entering her room and shutting the door.

She changed quickly into pajamas—grey and off-white pajama shorts, a white t-shirt that said "I'm A Limited Edition" with a red heart, a simple grey hoodie with a red rose on the left side, and some grey and pink slipper boots—before curling up on her window seat. She had every intention on staying there all night and even through the next day, only the sound of her phone ringing interrupted that. For a moment she thought about not getting it, but then she realized the tone was  _Girls Just Wanna Have Fun_ , which is the special tone she had for Elena. She couldn't very well deny her sister anything, much less right after their best friend died.

Sighing, she got up and padded over to where the phone lay on her dresser and picked it up, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Hey," she murmured into it.

"I need your help," she heard Elena hiss in a quick whisper.

Arlie frowned. "Okay... Why are we whispering?" she said in a mock, stage whisper.

Elena huffed. "I might have done something. And I need your help."

"Ohh...kay. What'd you do?"

"Promise me you won't get mad."

Arlie groaned. "Elena," she warned.

Elena sighed. "I might have, sort of..." She paused.

"Elena."

"I woke up Elijah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outfits for chapter two:
> 
> \- [Dance](https://www.polyvore.com/arlie_chapter_two_an_eternity/set?id=226628088)  
> \- [Bedtime](https://www.polyvore.com/arlie_chapter_two_an_eternity/set?id=226763734)


	3. Klaus

**-Arlie-**

"I can't  _believe_  you!"

"Arlie—"

"He's going to  _kill_ you, you know that right?!"

"Arlie."

"No, Elena! What you did was  _stupid_  and  _reckless_!"

" _Arlie_!"

" _What_?!"

" _Bonnie's alive_!"

Well, that certainly shut Arlie up and slowly she slid down the wall to sit next to her sister. Arlie had easily found where the younger Gilbert was, finding the open basement door and quickly and quietly running down to cell where Elijah was being kept. She took in the sight of Elijah's "dead" body laying there in the middle of the room without the dagger in it, and then Elena looking up at her guiltily from her spot on the floor by the door. Immediately Arlie jumped into her tirade, not listening to anything Elena had to say, at least until those words left her mouth.

"What?" she asked quietly, slowly looking up and over at Elena, her eyes shimmering.

"Damon told me," Elena said. "Klaus had to think she was dead, and our reactions had to be real. She did a spell to fake her death. But she's alive. Jeremy's with her at the old witch house."

Arlie's lips were parted in surprise and without a word, she quickly flung her arms around her sister's shoulders, holding on tight as she shook and fought with herself not to start sobbing. Every instinct in her wanted to jump up and run over to the house, but she knew that if Klaus were watching them—and she wound bet her left kidney that he was—that would be the worst thing to do. Plus it was incredibly late and the girl deserved a chance to rest. And she knew that Jeremy would take care of her.

"Good good," she murmured, finally pulling back and looking away as she angrily wiped at tears leaking out of her eyes. Though she knew Elena saw him; she just couldn't hide the amount of joy she was feeling at that. Bonnie didn't deserve to die. She didn't deserve to be swept up into any of this nonsense. Frankly, none of them did, even the Salvatores, but it wasn't as if they could just say "I don't feel like it anymore" and stop. This was life or death. "That's good." She nodded and let out a breath. "I'll call her or Jeremy later to check on them." She paused. "Right now, we have an Original to deal with."

"Elijah isn't anyone to worry about," Elena said. "If he were, I wouldn't have woken him."

Arlie nodded. "I know. But he's still a helluva lot more dangerous than Stefan or Damon. We have to be careful."

"As long as we don't try and kill him again, he'll be fine."

Arlie gave her sister a look, but stayed silent then because she knew she was right. Elijah was a good man, the noble Mikaelson. He wouldn't hurt her sister, though she still wasn't positive if he was trustworthy. Still, she knew that he was their best chance at defeating Klaus, especially now that the other Original was actually there in Mystic Falls. And Arlie would do anything to keep Elena away from him, even if that meant waking Elijah, and even if that meant dying herself.

Making herself comfortable, she looked down at her clothing and winced. She wished she had changed, but after the words,  _"I woke up Elijah"_ had left her sister's mouth, she had hopped up, exchanged her slippers for flip-flops, and quickly made her way outside. She wished she had a car of her own, but usually she and Elena shared, and normally it wasn't a problem, except in instances like this. So she was forced to walk the whole way there, knowing she had to get there as quickly as she could so Elena wasn't alone with Elijah.

She trusted Elena, and she wanted to trust Elijah, but she just didn't yet.

Though, she wouldn't admit it to herself, there was an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever she looked at him. Ever since she first saw him the day Rose and Trevor kidnapped Elena—and, technically, her as well since she was there that night and tried to fight off the man, and horribly lost—there was something in her that told her she  _could_ trust him. It was this deep down, natural instinct that told her that, especially after the way he seemed angry at Rose and Trevor for taking her as well. At first she thought it was out of annoyance, but then he demanded to know why she was harmed, and even gave her some of his blood to heal the concussion and head wound she got from the kidnapper knocking her over the head with something—she never found out what it was—and then gently asked her if she was okay. It was confusing as the look on his face was one of familiar protectiveness.

Quite frankly, she had trouble identifying it at first because she had never seen it before, and she didn't want to admit just how much she wanted to see it again.

"When did you remove it?" Arlie finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Ten minutes before you got here," Elena answered. Arlie nodded and fell back into a quite thoughtfulness.

It was just before dawn that anything happened, a harsh gasp ripping out of Elijah's body as he woke and his body arching off the floor. The sisters' eyes went wide and they exchanged a look before they both got up, Arlie quickly patting the dirt off her butt and legs, before they hesitantly moved towards him slowly. He fell over onto his side, still gasping, before rolling onto his back, eyes glassy and unseeing as he stared at the ceiling, looking as if he had just sprinted across the earth.

"Elijah," Arlie whispered, kneeling down next to him.

At once, his dark eyes flickered over to her and if possible, he somehow went even more ashen than he already was and Arlie frowned.

" _Aila_ ," he croaked in a gasp.

Arlie's frown deepened and she glanced to Elena and the back to Elijah.

"No, Elijah, it's me. It's Arlie."

"Oh my god," he whispered, his voice full of shocked horror, staring at her as if he saw a ghost. His shaky hand rose as if to touch her, but then it dropped and his eyes closed once more. He fell back down as if going back into his death-sleep, and the girls leaned forward, but then his body arched again and he shot up, huddling near the opposite wall as the girls rose quickly to their feet.

"I can't...I can't breathe!" he croaked. "What's happening to me?"

He tried rushing for the door, but it's as if there was a blockade over the door as he stopped, body stumbling back into the door frame and the girls rushed for him, one on either side of him.

"I can't...I can't be in this house."

Elena and Arlie exchanged a look before Arlie's eyes went wide. "You're not invited in," she whispered.

"Then get me out of here." But before they could help, he flashed into the hall, slamming into the opposite wall, and then was gone a moment later from view. The sisters quickly raced up the steps, knowing he would still be there. There were far too many questions left to answer on both their sides, and the Original would be getting them same as the girls would. Like Arlie thought, he was crouched just outside the door, though once he was there, he looked much stronger and more aware than he had in the basement. She and Elena stopped just inside the door and he stood up, glaring at the both of them.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"Shh!" Elena hissed. She quickly pointed to her ear and then up to the ceiling, indicating that Damon and Stefan were there and could hear them.  _Of course they don't know,_ Arlie thought sourly. And when they find out, she would be seriously pissed off. But it wasn't as if Arlie would lose sleep over that. "I'll tell you. But not here," she whispered, pausing. "Can I trust you?"

"Can I trust  _you_?" he whispered back.

Elena sighed, glancing to Arlie who gave her a nod, before reaching into her back pocket and pulling out the dagger. She hesitated for only a moment before handing it over to him, raising her eyebrow as she gave him the handle. He studied her for a moment before his eyes moved over to Arlie. As if she had done something other than stare at him, the look on his face changed to one of resolve and his whole body seemed to loosen up before their eyes. He took the dagger, but didn't stop looking at her, and she shifted slightly on her feet. It was unclear to her as to why he was looking at her like that and it brought her back to down in the basement when he called her Aila instead of Arlie—she had never heard the name Aila before in her life—and something in her gut told her there was a connection between his actions now, the name he called her, and his reaction to first seeing her. But for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what it was.

"We need to get out of here," Elena whispered.

Arlie and Elijah both nodded. "Wait here," she whispered and turned, jogging back down the steps with Elena and Elijah's eyes on her back.

She remembered where Stefan and Damon kept the cooler of blood bags so she went in and grabbed a couple, knowing that it wouldn't be ideal, but it would at least give Elijah his strength back. Back up the stairs, she stopped in front of them at the door, and held up the bags, tilting her head to the side.

"I didn't know if you have a preference," she whispered. "But I hope you like O negative."

Elijah's eyebrows rose in surprise and the smallest of smiles went over his face.

"Thank you, Arlie," he said. She gave him a small smile back and nodded, glancing to Elena who reached over to the table near the door and grabbed her keys.

"Let's go," Elena said.

They all filed out, Elena shutting the front door as quietly as she could, before heading down to her SUV with the other two. Arlie gestured Elijah to the passenger seat, shaking her head at his insistence that she take it, and climbed in the back. She saw Elijah sigh before climbing in, and Elena took the driver's seat. Carefully she started it and eyed Arlie in the rearview mirror. The older twin nodded and looked out the window, carefully searching for any sign the Salvatores heard. Front door opening, curtain ruffling, loud yelling, but there was nothing and Elena quickly pulled away from the boarding house.

It seemed as if the tension eased a bit once they were out on the road, and Elena quickly tried to get as far away as possible without leaving the the town limits. Eventually the day was in full swing and Elena pulled over to the side just as Elijah was finishing up the last of the blood bags. His skin was no longer gray and other than his tattered clothing, he looked relatively back to normal.

"You look better," Elena pointed out.

"Where did you get the dagger?" Elijah asked, ignoring her question.

Arlie leaned forward to stick her head between the seats and Elijah actually gave her that small smile once again as he saw her. She gave him one back and settled in, ready to listen and eavesdrop—she was already there, might as well get some information to go with it—but not speak.

"I'll tell you everything. But we have to work together, Elijah. I need your word."

"Your ability to make demands has long passed."

"No demands. I'm offering you my help. And in return, I want yours."

And why should I even consider this?" he wondered, his tone genuinely curious.

"The same reason that you haven't killed me. You need my help to kill Klaus. And I need you."

Arlie's eyes quickly flickered back and forth between the two and was the first one to notice Elena's phone buzzing. She almost reaching forward to get it, knowing it was probably Stefan or Damon, but Elena finally broke the gaze she had with Elijah to pick it up.

"Where are you? Are you okay?" Even Arlie could hear his worried tone over the phone and she rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Where's Elijah?"

"He's right here."

"Where? I'm on my way."

"No, Stefan, Elijah and I need some time alone."

"Don't even  _think_ about making me sit in the car all day," Arlie warned from the back seat. Elena shot her a look and Arlie saw Elijah trying not to let out a laugh.

"Listen to me. He can't be trusted he'll use you to get to Klaus."

"Elijah is a noble man, Stefan." Her eyes were firmly on his and Elijah glanced out the front window, amused or humble, Arlie didn't know. "He lives by a code of honor. I can trust him. He knows that I'd be incredibly stupid to betray him again. By removing the dagger, I have proven myself."

"You can't do this alone."

"What am I, a child?" she muttered with a roll of her eyes and Elena shot her another look, and this time Elijah did let out a chuckle.

"It's my decision, Stefan. Please respect it." She paused. "And make sure that Damon doesn't do anything stupid. I'll be in touch." With that, she hung up, pulling the phone away from her ear. Elijah holds out his hand, silently looking over to her and Elena hesitates only for a moment before handing it over. Elijah turned to Arlie and did the same and she groaned.

"Seriously? You realize that nobody's going to give to shits to call me, right?" He just continued to look at her and she sighed, but reached over to the seat next to her—since neither of her hoodie nor her shorts had pockets—and handed over her phone. "You break it, you bought it, bucko. Original or not. Careful with it."

Another amused quirk of the lips before he nodded. "I will take the utmost care of your property, Arlene."

She groaned again. "Okay, who told you my full name?" she demanded. "It's  _Arlie_ unless you no longer have any use for your liver."

"Arlie,  _please_ ," Elena pleaded.

"What?" Arlie said, looking at her with a wide-eyed, innocent expression. "I'm merely having a conversation."

"It is quite alright," Elijah said, looking between the sisters. " _Arlie_  is actually correct. I have no use of my liver." The amused expression on his face told Arlie that at least she got him out of the annoyed huff he had been in because of Elena daggering. Not that she blamed him, of course. Arlie would be seriously irritated as well if she was forced into a coma by someone much weaker than herself. And Elena was a lot of things, strong mentally perhaps, but there was no denying that she didn't come close to matching the physical strength.

Arlie shot her sister a victorious look, but Elena sighed and Arlie saw she had enough of this line of conversing.

"He's here," Elena said, bringing out the reason for all of this and causing the smiles to fall off Arlie's and Elijah's faces.

Elijah looked to the younger twin quickly. "Klaus is here?"

Elena nodded. "He's taken over Alaric's body."

"Of course he has." Elijah sighed. "One of his favorite tricks."

"Well, what are his other tricks? What is he going to do next? You're the only one who knows him."

"Yes, I do." Elijah looked lost in thought for a moment, eyes vacant, before he becomes aware of both girls looking at him and he turns his attention back to them. "I believe we might be in need of some assistance. The Lockwood manor?"

Elena nodded and eyed Arlie who shrugged and then sat back, the car ride silent over to the Lockwood mansion. Luckily there was nobody really around, not even some of the temporary housing staff that the Lockwoods employed. With Tyler off who knew where and Mr. Lockwood dead, that left just Mrs. Lockwood there. It was she they met at the front door after they ascended the steps, Elijah giving her a polite nod as the sisters smiled at her.

"Elijah, Elena, Arlie! What are you doing here?" She glanced at his ragged suit. "What happened?"

"I've had a bit of an incident, Carol. I'm hoping you could help."

"Well, I'm on my way to a meeting, so I—"

Elijah steps up to her, eyes locked with hers, and for a moment the sisters saw Carol's eyes go vacant as Elijah compelled her. "It won't take but a minute of your time."

A moment later she smiled and stepped back, allowing the three of them to enter. "Of course. Anything you need."

"Thank you," Elijah said, stepping aside to allow the girls to enter before he did as well. Carol shut the door behind them and they all looked around, Arlie noting the vast difference between then and the last time she was there, which happened to be the night she and Elena were taken and Elijah first came into their lives. The entire house was quiet and it was a bit unnerving. It made her wonder how Carol could standing to live in such a huge house without her husband or son, but they all knew Tyler would be back eventually, when he finally had a better handle on things.

"Well, first things first. I'm going to need a change of clothing," Elijah was saying, bring Arlie out of her thoughts.

"Well, we can try one of my husband's suits. I haven't boxed them up yet," Carol explained, heading for the staircase and beginning to ascend them.

"Wonderful," Elijah said as she disappeared.

"How did you know she's not on vervain?" Elena wondered.

"'Cause I'm the one who got her off it. Right before you and your friends killed me." He paused. "Twice. If you'll excuse me. I'll be down in a moment."

He, too, headed for the stairs, pausing as Arlie called up to him, "Actually, I didn't. I had no idea that was happening." Both Elena and Elijah glanced at her. She shrugged. "Just sayin'." Elijah's lips quirked into a smile again before he silently disappeared. Once he was out of earshot—they could only assume—Elena turned to her with a frown.

"Is that you hinting that you weren't included?"

Arlie shrugged. "Hey, if the accusation fits..."

Elena sighed. "I thought we got over this last night."

"No, we  _talked_ about it last night. That  _still_ doesn't make up for any of it. You kept me out of the loop for so long, Elena. And you're still doing it. I didn't know that Elijah was going to be killed—"

"—I didn't at first either," she input.

"—I didn't know," she continued with a hard look, "that Bonnie was going to die. I didn't know that you tried to sacrifice yourself to Klaus and Damon stopped you. I didn't know that Rose—you know, the chick that had me knocked out—was living at the boarding house. I didn't even know that Jenna and Alaric were having problems. And why  _do_ these problems exist? Oh yeah,  _because you're keeping things from her as well_!" She was well aware her voice carried and she knew Elijah was probably up there either laughing or rolling his eyes at them, so she took a deep breath, and let it out shakily. "Look, you're my sister, and I love you. But this  _has_ to stop. All of it. Keeping things from me, running around in secrets. I understand that they're all your friends and not mine and—"

"Hey, whoa," Elena interrupted. " _Mine_? Arlie, they're yours, too."

Arlie shook her head and frowned. "C'mon, Elena. We all know they wouldn't even give me a second thought if you weren't here as well."

Elena's eyes widened. "Is that what you really think?" she whispered.

But then Elijah appeared again, making Elena jump, and Arlie turn with a grateful half-smile. Elijah nodded minutely to her. With that nod, she knew he did it on purpose. Arlie did  _not_ want to go into that with her sister  _ever_. It just slipped out and she hated herself for it. And it was like Elijah  _knew_ it, which was odd, but she was ever so grateful for his timing. She knew Elena would try and talk about it later, but Arlie wouldn't let her. Those were feeling she had had since she was nearly five years old. She wasn't about to pull them out twelve years later just because her feelings were a little hurt.

Taking a deep breath, she gestured over to the living room, eyeing as Carol left the house without looking or talking to any of them, but then shrugged. He probably compelled her to leave and forget they were even there.

"Shall we?" Elijah wondered, walking down the stairs towards them and gesturing into the living room. The sisters nodded, Elena's a bit more stiff, but Arlie saw her force herself to relax so they could focus on the issues at hand. Once they were settled, Elijah spoke again. "So I assume that the Martin witches are no longer with us."

"No." She glanced down. "I'm sorry."

"And Katerina? She would have been released from my compulsion when I died."

"Klaus took her. We think that she may be dead."

"I doubt that. Not Klaus' style. Death would be too easy for her after what she did."

Elena frowned. "I don't understand," she said. "You say that you want Klaus dead, but you still made Katherine pay for betraying him."

"I have my own reasons for wanting Katerina to pay. There was a time...I'd have done anything for Klaus." He paused and glanced between them. "Klaus is my brother." His face showed no emotion, but his eyes and voice showed something a bit different. Pain, betrayal, a longing for a time long passed. Both sisters gaped at him, exchanging a quick glance. "Yes. Klaus is my brother."

"I heard that," she said, her eyes still wide. "I'm still processing."

"Yes, I'm a little behind on the times, but I believe the term you're searching for is 'O.M.G.'"

Arlie couldn't help but snort a little, looking over to him as his lips twitched lightly before looking down at her lap. Well, she certainly wasn't expecting that, but somehow she wasn't quite so surprised. She didn't know why everything with these Originals was something she was expecting, almost as if she had heard of them somewhere before and was just waiting for it to happen.

It surprised her that she wasn't surprised, and it surprised her even more that she wanted to comfort Elijah with this whole thing. It was a feeling that came out of nowhere, and she literally had to sit there with her hands clenched in her lap so she didn't get up and go over to him. Even so, it was a bit difficult, so she crossed her legs and tried not to look at him. But still, she frowned at him softly, her head tilted to the side, and he gave her a soft look and smile as if he knew what she were thinking.

Arlie's heart went out to him, thinking about losing a brother like that, more or less. She couldn't imagine losing Jeremy. And for the first time in what felt like forever, she felt something in her, a kinship and a bond between her and another older sibling. She wanted to help Elijah, she wanted to do everything she could to make him feel better, and she had no idea why that feeling existed within her.

* * *

 **-Ancient Northern Germany, 1093-  
** **-Aila-**

Rebekah fussed over the dress no matter how many times Aila told her that it was alright. Eventually the older woman just sighed and smiled at her sister-in-law standing there in front of her trying to pin up her hair. To start she had taken pieces of the dark strands, braided them in a tight plait half way down her hair, and then wound it around her head at the front like a headband. Some of the sides that hung by the sides of her face she pulled up over the sides of the plait to pin up, placing some small dark blue and white flowers there. The end of the plait she braided in with the rest of her hair down the right side of her head. But she continued to fuss with the plait, making sure it was all nice and smooth and in the perfect place to hold in the cloth that would be her veil.

The dress was already on; a dark blue, tight to her waist where it flared out down to the floor. The arms of the dress were very similar in that they were tight to her elbows and flared out, the lengths of the ends down to the floor as well. There was a white ribbon tied around her waist that matched the white shoes she wore. Rebekah was incredibly excited about this whole thing, finally having Aila officially as a sister rather than having to hide the truth of Aila and Niklaus's relationship.

"I think it looks fine," Aila said, but then held up her hands in surrender when Rebekah looked aghast, making her giggle. "Alright alright. Do as you wish. But please hurry, I wish to be Missus Mikaelson as soon as possible."

Rebekah paused and a wide grin split her face. "Missus Mikaelson!" she squealed, jumping up and down as her dress and hair—her dress purple and her hair down—floated around her. Aila knew her beauty could never compete with that of her sister-in-law's, but she felt beautiful that day. And she truly hoped Niklaus thought so as well.

That was what she worried about the most; that her betrothed would have seconds thoughts after he saw her, for some reason. They had nearly a hundred years together, but there was still an eternity left. Did he really want to be stuck with one person for that long? Aila knew very well that she was never going anywhere from his side; she would always be his for eternity. But would he always feel the same? She didn't think she could handle centuries down the line with him only for him to tire of her and leave her or make her leave him. It would devastate her.

"None of that now," Rebekah said, drawing Aila out of her thoughts.

The brunette frowned and looked up at her sister. "What are you referring to?"

Rebekah huffed and gave her a look. "Do not act as if you do not know what I am speaking of. I see that look on your face." She took a step closer and put her hands on the shorter girl's shoulders. "There is nothing on this earth that will take him from you, or allow you to be taken from him. He loves you very much, and I am fairly certain that he would rather watch one of us die than you."

"I would never allow that," Aila whispered.

Rebekah smiled. "I know. That is why we all adore you. Niklaus just happens to adore you the most."

Slowly Aila smiled, tears shimmering in her eyes, and she giggled softly, sniffing as she looked down. "I am so very glad you are going to be my sister."

" _Going_ to be?" Rebekah scoffed. "You have been my sister for ninety years now.  _Over_ ninety years, actually. So do not be silly." Aila giggled again and wiped away more tears. "You are done!" She and Aila hugged quickly and tightly, squeezing each other as they laughed happily.

"You both look beautiful," a voice said, drawing them out of their moment and over to the looked ready to snap and tell him off, assuming it was Niklaus, but both women relaxed when they saw it was Elijah.

Although Aila was closest with Rebekah out of all the siblings, out of the brothers, it was Elijah. Because of this, as soon as Niklaus had asked her for her hand, and she had agreed, she went to Elijah to give her away. After all, who better to do it? She had no family of her own, dead for a century now, so it only made sense. Usually regal and holding himself firm, never showing much in the way of emotions, he actually shed a tear at her question. Immediately he had pulled her into his arms and quietly murmured an, "I would be absolutely honored, Aila." She had held him so close and for so long that Niklaus actually wound up becoming a bit jealous and worried, only to shut up when both parties scoffed at him.

And now there he was, looking at her with such love and affection that she couldn't help it as some more tears fell down her face and she went to give him a tight hug. "Thank you, Elijah," she whispered. He held her just as tightly, gently rubbing her back, before pulling away and looking between his sisters.

"Kol has compelled the priest, Finn is organizing the musicians, and Niklaus is ready. It seems as if you are as well so it is time." He smiled and held his elbow out to him, bowing softly. "It is time, dear sister."

Aila giggled softly and took his arm, bowing her head to him as he pulled her closer to his side. While she was positively thrilled to be getting Niklaus as a husband, she was nearly equally as thrilled to be getting the rest of them as family as well. She had been the only child of a widower father, her mother having died in childbirth with her, and he never gave her much attention. It was why and how she and Niklaus met, when they were but fifteen and sixteen years old, her relatively new to the village and getting lost in the nearby woods. Niklaus found her at the stream and helped her back, but they talked the whole way, and she was immediately enamored with him. Only a few years later, just before their transformation, when the newcomer Tatia and her child arrived did she begin to feel threatened. For the first and only time in her life, Aila raised her voice and yelled at the woman to leave her suitor alone before kissing him right there in front of the whole village.

 _Now I get to be his wife_ , she thought happily.  _And I get his wonderful siblings as my own_. Gazing around at the three brothers and the one sister, she knew she would never have anyplace ever feel anymore like home than she did right there at their sides.

* * *

 **-Mystic Falls, Virginia 2010-  
** **-Arlie-**

There was a moment that Elijah simply studied Arlie the same way she was him until Elena cleared her throat and they both seemed to snap out of it. Whatever the Original had been thinking of clearly upset him more than just the thought of losing Klaus, but it was washed off his face nearly as quickly as it had appeared. Arlie wanted to ask, but with Elena there, there would be a lot more questions than answers. Plus, it felt like a private thing, like something she should share only with Elijah. Usually she shared everything with Elena—even if that notion wasn't always mutual—so the thought of hiding something didn't sit well, especially after the past twelve hours or so with her feelings seemingly vomiting out of her mouth.

"There's a whole family of Originals?" Elena asked once the attention was drawn back to the conversation at hand, and Arlie snapped out of those deep thoughts, turning her attention back to the whole killing Klaus thing.

"My father was a wealthy land owner in a village in Eastern Europe," he explained. "Our mother bore seven children."

"So your parents were human?"

"Our whole family was. Our origin as vampires is a very long story, Elena. Just know...we're the oldest vampires in the world. We are the Original family, and from us all vampires were created."

"Right, but Klaus is your brother. And you want him dead?"

Elijah glanced from her to Aila once before standing, buttoning up the suit jacket that he had borrowed from the late Mayor Lockwood. "I need some air. I'm still feeling a tad... _dead_. Come." He didn't wait for them, just walked passed them and out the door. Elena frowned, but Arlie shrugged as together they followed Elijah out the back door and into the spacious backyard. Though  _backyard_ wasn't exactly the appropriate word for it. Arlie always loved the sprawling gardens, sitting around on late afternoons amongst the roses and daffodils, helping Tyler "study."

The truth of it was, before there was Vicki Donovan, there was Arlie Gilbert in Tyler's life.

But he never wanted the truth of that to come out, and broke up with her soon after he took her virginity right in those very rose bushes she had once loved. While they still held some bitter memories for her, that didn't negate the fact that they were beautiful. At that time of year, they weren't in bloom, but there were some lovely vines that always seemed to creep around the property and cover the trellises they sat against. However, Elijah directed them away from the gardens and towards the pond, walking over the small bridge that went over the stream that cut through the Lockwood's backyard. Arlie didn't miss the way his eyes darted to her for a moment, from her to that stream, before continuing on his trek.

"So as you've seen, nothing can kill an Original." He gestured around them, especially to the sun up above. "Not sun, not fire, not even a werewolf bite. Only the wood from one tree. A tree my family made sure burned."

"That's where the white ash for the dagger comes from," Arlie realized.

"Yes." He nodded. "The witches won't allow anything truly immortal to walk the earth. Every creature needs to have a weakness in order to maintain the balance."

"So the sun can't kill an Original." Elena raised an eyebrow. "Why is Klaus so obsessed with breaking the sun and moon curse?"

Elijah gave them a small smile. "Right. The curse of the sun and the moon. It's all so...Biblical-sounding, don't you think?" He chuckled and walked ahead of them.

Elena frowned. "What's so funny?"

"Those sketches that you studied about the curse were created by Klaus and myself."

"I don't understand," Elena said.

"You and Klaus drew the Aztec sketches about the curse?" Arlie asked.

"Roman scrolls, African tribal etchings, and any other culture or continent we felt like planting it in."

"But why?"

"Easiest way to discover the existence of a doppelgänger or to get your hands on some long, lost moonstone is to have every single member of two warring species on the lookout."

"So it's not Aztec at all?"

"The curse of the sun and the moon..." He paused. "Is fake. It doesn't exist."

The sisters gaped at him again, staring after him in confusion as he walked away. "What?!" they demanded in unison, quickly following after the Original.

"Klaus and I faked the sun and moon curse dating back over a thousand years."

"But if there's no curse..."

"There's a curse, just not that one. The real one's much worse. It's a curse placed on Klaus."

"What are you talking about?"

"Klaus has been trying to break it for the last thousand years. And you are his only hope."

Arlie frowned as she heard a buzzing, and realized it was coming from the depths of Elijah's jacket. But she didn't say anything right then, knowing he would notice, and not wanting to interrupt their conversation.  _At least I know what's going on this time,_ she thought wryly. Next was her phone to vibrte, and then Elena's again.

"What is this curse?" Elena was asking.

Elijah sighed, his face full of annoyance as he pulled the phone out of his pocket. "Your phone will not stop its incessant buzzing." He handed it to her. "Answer it, please."

"Stefan...what's wrong?" She paused as she listened and then her eyes went wide. "No. No, no, no, no. Okay, I'll be right there." She hangs up and looks over to Elijah and Arlie, the latter of which was already frowning as she could tell from Elena's tone and the way her face went slack that something was wrong. Immediately her heart went into overdrive with fear and she took a step closer to her sister.

"Klaus went after Jenna."

"No," Arlie breathed.

"I have to go to her."

"I'm afraid that wasn't part of today's arrangement," Elijah said with a sigh.

"She's my family, Elijah. We have to. We'll be back."

"You have my word," Arlie murmured, looking up at him with a nod, her eyes wide with fear.

As Elijah looked at her, he seemed to fight with himself until he sighed. "That doesn't mean anything to me until you live up to it." He paused and then reached over to put a hand on Arlie's shoulder. "I shall keep her safe." The sisters' eyes went wide and it was clear that meant Elena could go, but Arlie wasn't going anywhere

"Thank you," Elena murmured. She glanced to Arlie who nodded quickly and then watched as she ran for their car.

Though she would love to go be there for her aunt, she knew that this was the best way for it to work. Elena was who Jenna would need, after all it was Elena's boyfriend that got mixed up in all that. Plus Elena knew more about handling this than Arlie did; she was better for the comfort thing, while Arlie was better for the protection. And it was another reason Arlie hated herself for not being there, though she supposed she couldn't be in two places at once. Elena had needed her there for when Elijah was waking up, and Jenna needed her there to keep Klaus away from her. Arlie was torn, but deep down she knew...she loved Jenna, but she would always choose Elena. And Jeremy.

Arlie sighed as she was left alone with the Original and she turned slightly, his hand still on her shoulder, and was a bit shocked to see him looking at her softly. Once her brown eyes caught his, he seemed to snap out of it and put that mask back over his face and let his hand fall to his side. It seemed that she wasn't the only one who did that after all.

"No offense," she said with a sigh, crossing her arms over her chest, "but your brother's a bit of a psycho."

He looked at her for a moment before chuckling softly. "So I take it you have no problems with being on the 'kill Klaus' bandwagon."

She shook her head and shrugged. "Why should I have a problem with it?" she wondered. "I don't even know the guy  _and_ he's trying to kill my sister. So I say let's kill him first."

An odd look crossed his face for a moment before it disappeared and he gestured them over to a bench, of which she gratefully sat on. "Does this mean you shall be first in line to take his liver?"

Arlie's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Did you just make a joke?" She grinned. "I'm shocked, Elijah." While she thought her sarcasm was playful, she didn't miss his wince. The grin faded. "What? What'd I say?" She paused and looked down at her feet, having forgotten she was still in her pajamas and cursing herself, but there was no point in pretending. "You know, sometimes I put my foot in my mouth a little too far, so if I offended you, I'm sorry."

"No," he murmured. "You didn't offend me, Arlie."

She looked up to study him for a moment before giving him a small smile and nudging his shoulder. "Good," she said simply. She looked back at the pond before them, remembering days—and sometimes even nights—swimming in there with Tyler and her sister, sometimes even Caroline and Bonnie. It was a fun time and it had been awhile, even before Tyler took her most prized possession and left her—something nobody, not even Elena knew about—and it made her a bit nostalgic. Still, she looked away and back to Elijah who she caught looking at her again.

For a moment she wondered why he had looked at her like that, but then she realized she saw that same look on his face before: right after he woke up and called her a name that wasn't her own. She flickered her gaze over his own, and this time he didn't look away. She could tell it wasn't one of romantic interest, but one more familial. It made her long for a look like that from her siblings, but like usual, she pushed away her self-pity and instead changed to a different topic. Well, mostly, at least a different topic than the curse or the foot in her mouth.

Though that didn't seem to go far away when she asked, "Who's Aila?"

The way his face twisted as if she slapped him wasn't what she expected and she frowned, watching as he seemed to try and grasp for an answer before croaking out, "Where did you hear that name?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Um... _you_?" She tilted her head to the side. "When you woke up in the Salvatores' basement, you looked at me and called me Aila." She paused. "So who is she? Do I look like her?"

Suddenly he looked very tired as he looked away from her and stood up, keeping his back to her. "Yes," he said softly. "You do." He paused. "She has been dead for a long time now." Slowly he turned back and she could see the carefully placed mask across his face once again and she felt horrible for asking, especially since the girl apparently was dead.

She sighed and stood as well, placing a soft hand on his arm. She felt him go rigid, so she did remove her hand, but only after a soft smile. "I'm sorry for bringing her up," she said softly. "And for prying." She paused. "And for my face." She gave him a small smile and eventually he returned it, chuckling softly.

"I supposed you cannot help being born with it, can you?"

She shook her head. "Truth. It would get insanely boring if you could."

Elijah simply smiled at her.

After that, they both sat back on the bench, quietly looking out over the pond as Arlie swung her legs back and forth over the ground, her sandals skimming over the tops of the grass. It was a nice day out, as it usually was in early fall there in Virginia, and the sun calmed some of Arlie's inner turmoil. And it was weird to admit that the Original sitting next to her helped with that as well. It was like sitting there next to him brought a sense of peace and calm she had never really felt before, like she didn't have to have the weight of her siblings' safety on her shoulders all the time like she did, or be the mother hen of the group when the others were in danger. It wasn't as if she wanted to lump it all on Elijah, but his presence gave her a temporary reprieve, and for that she was grateful.

Eventually, though, reality was slammed back onto her when Elijah stood and held out his hand to her. "Let us go back inside to wait for Elena there." Arlie glanced from his eyes to his hand and back before giving him a smile and taking his hand, allowing him to help her up. He tucked her hand into his elbow as he began to guide her back. For a moment she had a flash of him guiding her down an aisle while music played in the background and she wore a long, floor-length dress, but it was an odd, silly notion and she pushed it away as quickly as it came.  _Where did that come from?_ she mused to herself.

"I'm wondering..." she started, but then stopped, causing Elijah to glance down at her.

"Yes?"

She let out a sigh. "What if..." Another pause. "What if Elena  _doesn't_  come back? I mean...what would you do?"

She glanced at her feet as he remained silent for a moment before he said, "Do you doubt your sister's loyalty to you?"

She shook her head and shrugged at the same time. "Not really, but I do doubt the Salvatores. It's not as if they dislike me—well, Stefan does, I think; Damon, I'm sure, would be fine if I just disappeared—but they care much more about her than they do me. So if they think she's in danger, they won't let her come back here, even though you have me." She slowly looked back up at him, her eyes searching his face. "Plus, sometimes she gets... _distracted_." She shrugged. "So that's why I'm curious. If she doesn't come back, what would you do? Keep me prisoner somewhere? Or just kill me?"

Elijah blanched at the question and she raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask. Did it have to do with Aila and her death? The Original did seem a bit twitchy around her, more so than he was with Elena, even though he seemed to have known Katherine. The looks he gave Elena were cool and almost uninterested, interacting with her because it suited both of them, not because he particularly wanted her. But with Arlie, it was different. His face was soft and kind, he guided her and opened up to her.  _It_ has  _to do with Aila,_ she thought.  _There's no other explanation._

"No," Elijah finally murmured, looking away from her. "I would not keep you prison or kill you." He sighed. "But I need Elena to know that I am serious."

"And wouldn't the best way to do that be hurting someone she loves?" She paused. "I suppose in that case, you should go kill Stefan or Jeremy or Bonnie or Caroline..."

Elijah stopped them, nearly at the base of the back steps, and she looked up at him quizzically. "You do not think your sister would come back to save your life?"

Arlie looked away. "I just believe that if it were between me or one of them, it wouldn't be me." She shrugged. "That's all."

Elijah studied her face for a moment, she could feel it, before he began walking again. He seemed lost in thought and she let him stay there as they went back into the living room they had vacated earlier. He helped her down into one of the sofas before he went to stand by the fireplace, looking down into the small flames, his shoulders tense, before he finally turned back to her.

"Aila was married to my brother," he said softly, and Arlie's whole body went still, her eyes wide as she watched him fight for his words. "She was my sister-in-law. While she was closest with my sister, she and I were very close as well." He paused. "I gave her away at her wedding." The flash she had before of Elijah guiding her down the aisle rose to the surface again and she blinked in shock. "She died just over a hundred years after we were changed. She had been very close with my family for a long time, had been romantic with my brother. So when my mother changed us, she changed Aila as well. Aila's father was not a reliable man and so my parents took her under their guidance and eventually, under their roof. They thought of her as one of their own, and they and my siblings and I would have done anything to protect her." Another pause. "When she died, we were all understandably devastated. I believe that is when he truly became the man you see now."

"Who?" she breathed out, swallowing thickly, though she had a feeling she knew.

"Klaus," he said, confirming her suspicions and she let out a breath in one quick punch. "She was married to Niklaus."

Arlie stared at him in shock, feeling so many different kinds of emotions swirling around in her body. This was something she wasn't expecting, not even in the least. She wasn't expecting to look like Klaus's dead wife, and there was no real reason behind it, was there? After all, to get a doppelgänger, one's family line must continue, like Katherine having a daughter out of wedlock and eventually getting to Isobel and Elena. But Elijah never mentioned a child, so if Aila died as a vampire without any children, then Arlie couldn't be another doppelgänger.  _Besides, one is enough,_ she thought wryly. So what did that make her? A coincidence? A sick joke for these Originals? While she wasn't sure if she cared if Klaus was hurt by her appearance, she was quickly coming to like Elijah, even care for him. And she felt horrible that he had to suffer through losing Aila just by looking upon Arlie's face.

"I'm sorry," Arlie whispered. "I'm sorry I look like her." For a moment she almost blurted out the fact that she thought she had a flash of a vision of walking down an aisle with him, but he would think she was crazy or it'd cause him more pain, and neither were acceptable to her.

Elijah let out a single chuckle. "Please, do not apologize, Arlie. It's not as if you chose it, remember?"

Arlie studied him before giving him a weak smile. "I guess so," she whispered. Then her eyes went wide. "So  _that's_ why he acted weird around me."

"Who?" Elijah asked, puzzled.

"Alaric. Or...Klaus, I guess. Possessing Alaric's body. At the boarding house and at the dance. He was acting strange, and I just thought it was Alaric disliking our plan, but not saying anything. But I guess that it was... _me_."

Elijah frowned. "Yes. He—"

He paused and for a moment she wondered why, but then the door opened and closed quickly and rapid footsteps came closer to them. Arlie let out a breath and stood as Elena came into view.

"Welcome back," Elijah said, that mask easily back over his face as he looked over her.

"How is Aunt Jenna?" Arlie asked quickly right after, taking a step closer.

"Tell me," Elena said, ignoring both of them as she shed her jacket and tossed it onto the table, making Arlie roll her eyes. "What is Klaus's curse?"

"Please," Elijah said, gesturing for Elena to sit across from where Arlie was. She did as he asked and he sat next to her, unbuttoning the top button of his jacket as he did so.

"My family was quite close, but Klaus and my father did not get on too well. When we became vampires, we discovered the truth. Klaus was not my father's son. My mother had been unfaithful many years before. This was her darkest secret. Klaus is from a different bloodline. Of course, when my father discovered this, he hunted down and he killed my mother's lover and his entire family. Not realizing, of course, that he was igniting a war between species that rages until this day."

"A war between the species?"

"The vampires...and the werewolves." Arlie's eyes widened and she eyed Elena, who looked confused.

"So Klaus's real father was from a werewolf bloodline? What does that make Klaus? A werewolf? Or a vampire?"

"He's both. A hybrid would be deadlier than any werewolf or vampire. Nature would not stand for such an imbalance of power. Therefore the witches, the servants of nature, saw to it that my brother's werewolf side would become dormant."

"That's the curse that Klaus wants to break?"

Elijah nodded. "He wants to trigger that part of him that's a werewolf. If allowed, Klaus would sire his own bloodline. He'd build his own race. Endangering not just vampires, but everyone."

"But you helped him?"

"I helped him because I loved him. That's changed, now he must die."

"We have the dagger now. We can stop him," Elena said.

"When a werewolf is wounded by silver, it heals. An Original can't be killed by anything but white oak ash on a silver dagger. So you see the conundrum." Elijah raised an eyebrow. "The dagger does not work."

"What, are you saying that Klaus can't be killed?"

"There's one way to kill any supernatural species...at the hands of the servants of nature themselves."

"A witch. If they can channel that much power. But it would kill them."

"The curse must be broken during the full moon. When Klaus is in transition. That's when he'll be at his most vulnerable. A witch with enough power...can kill Klaus."

"What if I told you that I knew a witch that could channel that much power?"

"Then I would tell you there's one more thing that you should know. There is an elixir a witch gave to me, one to bring back a human life after drained of blood, but it only works on the full moon."

"You found a way to save the life of the doppelgänger?"

"Yes, Elena. I did. But unfortunately, Katerina took matters into her own hands first. I believe you already know how that played out."

Elena paused. "You cared about her, didn't you?" she asked quietly.

"It's a common mistake, I'm told." He stood, prompting the sisters to stand, and he grabbed Elena's jacket and handed it over to her. "And it's one I won't make again." With a quick glance to Arlie, and a look in his eye that just screamed, "that doesn't apply to you," he headed out of the house. Elena and Arlie exchanged a glance as Elena put her jacket back on before they followed him out to the car.

With him back in the passenger seat, Elena driving, and Arlie in the back, the ride was silent as they drove towards the boarding house. Arlie wasn't quite sure what to say, though she knew what she  _wanted_ to say, go back to the topic of Aila and Klaus and everything, but she didn't want Elena to know, and she could tell that Elijah wasn't willing to share that information with her. But Arlie was grateful that he share at least shared it with her, and she would find some way to thank him.

In the driveway of the boarding house, Arlie began climbing out when she heard Elena say, "Does our deal still stand?"

She paused, glancing over at Elijah who seemed to be thinking it through before he slowly nodded. "Yes," he finally said. "Your friends and family will come to no harm."

Arlie frowned. "Deal?"

Elijah frowned and Elena stayed silent and Arlie rolled her eyes. She hopped out of the car and didn't wait for Elena and Elijah before she stalked into the house, not wanting to get into an argument or wait to here some half-assed explanation. For a moment she was torn between going to get more coffee because she had been up all night with Elena waiting for Elijah to wake up, or just going to find a bedroom to sleep. But then when she heard the commotion from the library—Elena and Elijah entering from outside—she sighed and realized neither would be happening until whatever spat the Salvatores were having was over.

The three of them moved quickly for the other room, Elijah and Elena entering first with Arlie coming up behind them, all of them standing in the doorway.

"Stop!" Elena exclaimed, and Arlie watched as the brothers sprung apart, looking up at the three of them in the doorway.

Damon glared. "Now you've invited him in?" He looked at Arlie accusingly and she scoffed.

"Don't blame me, I can't invite people in, remember? The house is in her name, not mine."

Damon rolled his eyes.

"Elijah and I have renewed the terms of our deal."

"Really?" Damon scoffed.

"The two of you will come to no harm at my hands. I only ask for one thing in return," Elijah said simply, tugging on his shirt sleeves.

"What?"

"An apology."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "A what?"

Stefan glanced between them all before he took a few steps forward, looking up at Elijah from the end of the stairs. "I'm sorry for the part that I played in your death. I was protecting Elena." He paused. "I will  _always_  protect Elena." Elena smiled at him softly.

"I understand," Elijah said with a nod.  _Apology apparently forgiven,_ Arlie thought.

Everyone looked at Damon and Elena's smile faded. "The sacrifice is going to happen, Damon. Bonnie will be able to kill Klaus without hurting herself and Elijah knows how to save my life. I told you I'd find another way. And I did."

"Is that true?"

"It is," Elijah confirmed.

Damon looked back to Elena. "And you're trusting him?"

"I am."

Damon sneered. "You can all go to hell."

Stefan sighed, his brows furrowed in frustration. "He's angry with me right now. But he'll come around."

"Perhaps," Elijah said simply, looking at the door Damon disappeared through.

Everybody else stayed quiet and then Arlie sighed, looking over to Elena and Stefan, putting her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow.

"Well that was fun," she said sarcastically. "Let's never do this again. I'm going home and going to bed." While she could've gone to get coffee or slept there, she suddenly didn't want to be there anymore. Plus, she didn't want Jenna to be alone. She knew what this kind of information could do to someone, and all she wanted to do was make sure her aunt was okay.

She turned then, not waiting for a reply as she strode out of the library. Only before she could get to the foyer, there was a small gush of wind and suddenly there was an Original in front of her, causing her to nearly slam into him as she pulled herself to a stop and stared up at him with wide eyes, heart jumping.

"My apologies," Elijah said carefully, and he sounded like he truly meant it. "Please, let me walk you home."

Arlie frowned and slowly shook her head. "I mean, not that I wouldn't appreciate it, but it's a few miles. You don't have to."

"I insist," Elijah said, holding out his hand. She studied him for a moment before gently giving it to him, where he tucked it into his elbow just like he had before. Neither of them bothered saying a word to the others about them both leaving, but Arlie knew that if they were really needed, they were simply a phone call away.

"Thank you," Arlie said softly once they stepped outside and into the sunlight. Elijah gave her a soft smile and led her down the driveway and out onto the road. Lucky for her, she was used to walking around whenever Elena had the car—which was nine times out of ten—and actually enjoyed it. Mystic Falls was actually pretty beautiful and so sometimes she took the long way home through the woods just because she could. But that day she didn't, just quietly walked alongside Elijah on the road, mostly looking down at her feet, but now and then looking up just in case somebody happened to drive by. And she had to smile a bit because Elijah kept them situated so he was walking closer to the cars than she was, just in case somebody got too close, and the thought made her smile.

"I believe I understand what you were speaking of," Elijah finally said once they were about a mile from her house. She looked up at him quizzically. "About Elena and feeling as if you didn't completely belong." While she hadn't said that in so many words, she realized that's exactly what it was. She  _did_ feel like she didn't belong. With everyone always helping Elena, she was the one always left behind. And while she had never complained about it before, she wasn't about to start right then either. But faintly she nodded, looking away once more. "I am sorry you feel like that."

Arlie shrugged. "Not your fault," she murmured. She cast him a small smile. "You know more than even Elena does. So you have no reason to apologize. I'm just grateful you listened to me complain."

He chuckled softly. "Not at all."

For the rest of the walk back to her house, they were both quiet, and once they got there, Elijah walked Arlie up to the door. "Thank you again, Elijah," she said. He simply smiled at her, nodded, and then he was gone a moment later. Arlie let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and gingerly pushed open the door.

The house was quiet and she knew that Jeremy was with Bonnie at the old witch house and Elena was with Stefan, so that left just Jenna there.  _I wonder if she's sleeping,_ Arlie thought, and quietly took off her sandals, padding up to the second floor where she peaked in Jenna's room. She was right when she saw the strawberry blonde haired woman laying across the bed, her face peaceful, but Arlie knew that once she woke it would be a different story. Arlie went over and gave her a kiss on the temple before going in her own room and shutting the door.

It was nice just to have a quiet house and some time alone, time to think about everything that was heaped on her that day. The curse having been different than what they thought, the fact that Elijah was actually a very kind man even if he was a bit cold and stiff sometimes, and the most surprising fact, at least to her, the fact that she seemingly looked exactly like Klaus's dead wife. While she didn't want to be alone with the man and she didn't want to tell the others of this fact, it made her wonder if she could somehow stop him from hurting Elena or anyone else. That would be horrible manipulation, but at that point she would rather manipulate the Original than watch her sister die. That was just something she couldn't do.

Sighing, she thought it through, letting her mind wander between different possibilities and situations, as she climbed into bed and allowed sleep to immediately take her over, exhaustion so thick that she didn't even once that day.

The only thing she saw were dark blue eyes staring at her from within her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outfits for chapter three:
> 
> \- [Arlie - Waking Elijah](https://www.polyvore.com/arlie_chapter_two_three_an/set?id=226763734)  
> \- [Aila - Wedding](https://www.polyvore.com/aila_chapter_three_an_eternity/set?id=226778165%22)


	4. The Last Day

**-Arlie-**

The next day was annoyingly bright, but Arlie was ready to start it so she quickly showered and dressed in a gray tank top that had a tiger on it with a flower crown, simple light denim cutoff shorts, a black beanie, and her black and white low top Converse. She was comfortable and decided that if she got cold, she would just steal something from Damon's as she was headed over there anyway to figure out what was going on. The ritual would have to be done on the full moon and while there was another one a month away, she knew as well that there was one that very night. If Klaus was already prepared, then that meant her sister would be dying and she had every intention on making that not happen.

"Wait up!"

Arlie paused at the front door, spinning quickly and raising an eyebrow as Jenna hurried towards her. "What's up, Jenna?" she wondered.

"I need to talk to Elena about this more," she said. "I have so many questions." She paused. "And I don't want to be alone."

Arlie smiled softly and reached over to squeeze her aunt's hand. "Trust me, I get it," she whispered. "Let's go together then. It's a nice walk over to the boarding house."

"Or we could just take my car."

Arlie rolled her eyes as Jenna laughed before grabbing her jacket, shoes, and bag to head out. It was definitely a quicker time driving over rather than walking, and they pulled up in record time. Though it was easier than walking, Arlie realized that the walking was nice as it gave her some uninterrupted time to think about things that were happening. Plus it gave her some time to exercise, which normally she wouldn't have time for in all the craziness that was now her life.

When Jenna pulled up, there was another car in the driveway and Arlie's eyes went wide as Jenna's car squealed to a halt. The car belonged to Alaric and for a moment both women just sat there, but then Jenna reached into her bag and pulled out a mini crossbow.

"Whoa, what the hell?" Arlie said, eyes wide as Jenna said nothing, just jumped up and out of the car just as Klaus did. When he saw the crossbow pointed at him, his eyes went wide and he backed against the car

"Go away!"

"Jenna, Jenna!"

" _Go away_!" Jenna ordered again.

"Jenna, put the crossbow down, okay? It's me."

"Stay away from us!"

Apparently she was yelling loud enough that it attracted the vampires' attention because soon Elena, Stefan, Damon, and Elijah were outside with them. Arlie jumped out of the car then, going over to Elijah's side. She smiled up slightly at the Original as a small hello who returned it before the attention was focused back on Klaus...or Alaric, if he was telling the truth.

"What's going on?" Elena demanded.

"It's me, Elena, I swear, okay? He let me go. Klaus let me go."

"Prove it," Damon said, brows furrowing.

"Okay, uh, first night you and I spent together, Jeremy walked in right when I was about to—"

Immediately Jenna lowered the crossbow, cutting him off. "Okay, it's him.

"Why did he let you go?" Stefan wondered.

"He wanted me to deliver a message." He paused as the others glanced to him. "The sacrifice happens tonight."

Everybody was silent then, the Salvatore brothers brooding as Elijah looked troubled and Arlie frowned. The only one who didn't look worried was Elena, and Arlie knew that her sister was dead set on going through with whatever plan she and Elijah came up with. While Arlie was against anything that would kill her, she bit her tongue for the moment, knowing that nothing she said right then would change her mind.

Eventually they all moved back inside, everyone but Damon heading for the living room while the older Salvatore stalked upstairs. Arlie rolled her eyes at his dramatics, heading quickly into the kitchen for some coffee, coming out just as Alaric was speaking.

"...Katherine was there," he finished.

"She's under compulsion. Damon snuck her some vervain, but she can't leave until Klaus tells her she can," Stefan told him.

"Where is Damon?" Elena wondered.

"I saw him go upstairs," Arlie said, gesturing to the stairs as she climbed up onto the couch, crossing her legs as she sipped at her coffee.

Elena left to go find Damon—which annoyed Arlie,  _Let him brood if he wants_ , she figured, but didn't say anything—and Elijah sat next to Arlie as Alaric continued to question Stefan and Jenna.

"So what else did I do?" he wondered, looking afraid of the answer.

"Are you alright?"

Arlie heard the soft question and she turned, eyebrow raised as she looked at Elijah questioningly. He wasn't looking at her, but rather at Alaric as the teacher's face grew ashen as he was told what happened during the time Klaus had his body. But Arlie was confused; why did her mental state matter? Especially to this Original? She figured it had something to do with Aila, but she didn't say it. Truthfully she hated seeing the man in pain, and so she kept quiet on the subject of her doppelgänger...or whoever the hell she was compared to Aila, biting her lip ever so slightly before she nodded.

"I guess alright as I can be," she said just as softly. "Alright as I can be considering my sister's going to go off to die tonight and there's nothing I can do about it. That's why I haven't fought much on the subject. If Stefan and Damon can't save her—two vampires who are most definitely stronger than I am—than what I am supposed to do about it?"

Elijah was quiet for a moment as he nodded. "Come with me. I want to show you something."

Arlie raised an eyebrow, but nodded and silently stood up with him, taking his hand when he offered it. With a soft breeze of air, suddenly they were in the library and she blinked, feeling the slightest bit dizzy so she gripped the railing for support, but eventually she got her legs under her.

"Well, I've never done that before," she said and Elijah just gave her a mysterious smile.

Over on one of the tables was a wooden box and he went over to it, glanced over it for a moment, before he opened the lid and peered inside. He beckoned her closer and she went without a word, peaking around his shoulder to see what was in it. The glass was obviously made with an old technique and it was stained a bit, but otherwise in perfect condition. It was mostly opaque, but faintly she could see a liquid sloshing around inside. The stopper was securely on and she knew that without the velvet lined box it had been resting in, it would've broken centuries ago.

"So this is what you were talking about then?" she wondered, running the ever so tips of her fingers over it before pulling back, afraid of doing something to it.

"Yes," Elijah said, gingerly picking it up and holding it out to her. She flickered her eyes to his and he gave her a gentle, prodding nod, of which she obeyed. She took it in her hands, holding it tightly between both palms, studying the glass container. "The witch that created it was an ancestor of Bonnie's." Arlie's eyes went wide as she looked up at him. "The Bennetts have a long line. There was a witch in my village when I was human a thousand years ago that was also one. She was my mother's friend and helped her create the spell that turned us into vampires, only she thought my mother took it too far."

"Your mother was a witch?"

"A very powerful one." He nodded. "She created the spell because of my father's insistence. There were dangers here even then, and he thought that the best way to save us would be to make us immortal. Only once we had been, both of them turned their backs on us and hunted us down for centuries." He paused and turned away for a moment. "My father was turned into a vampire as well, but his goal was to hunt us down. A vampire who kills vampires. He is the one who killed my sister-in-law, our Aila."

Arlie stilled, the hands moving on the glass pausing as she looked up at him in surprise.  _His_ father  _killed Aila_? she thought. She hadn't expected her to be brought back up and truthfully, she didn't want to go further. Elijah was already telling her more than she deserved to know, more than he would've told any of the others. It surprised her and made her wonder if she was just that trustworthy to him, or simply because she resembled Aila. Either way, it warmed her heart, and she wanted nothing more than to prove to him that he really  _could_ trust her. So she made it her goal then never to tell a soul what she learned, no matter what duress they put her under, and no matter who it was. This was their secret, and nobody else needed to know it.

Gently she put the glass on the table and then her hand on his arm, gesturing for him to turn back to her. Obviously he could resist it if she tried forcing, but she didn't want to force it anyway. Still, she was glad when he did, and she didn't waste any time before she quickly hugged him around the waist. She felt him go rigid, but still she didn't pull back, just laid her cheek against his chest.

"Thank you for telling me all this," she said softly. "You didn't need to tell me, so thank you." Ever so slowly, his arms came up and around her back, holding her closer to him where she happily stayed. It was so comforting, and dare she say even more comforting than hugging Elena, or even Jeremy. And she used to believe that hugging Jeremy was the best thing. But now, here in Elijah's arms, she decided that  _this_ was. And it was confusing and so frustrating as the image of them in that chapel once again popped to mind, but she focused on the present.

"You are welcome," he said softly. She smiled and stayed there for another moment before a bang up above them had her jumping and pulling away, eyebrows drawn in confusion and she looked up at Elijah. His eyes were flickered up and it was clear he was listening before he closed them and sighed, shaking his head.

"What was that? What's going on?" she wondered.

"It seems as if Damon does not trust me," he said, though that much was painfully obvious. "He has taken matters into his own hands."

"Meaning?"

Elijah sighed. "He forced your sister to drink his blood."

Arlie's eyes went wide and she gasped. "So when Klaus kills her tonight..."

"She will come back as a vampire. Yes." Elijah's eyes were more than a bit annoyed, and he turned his back just as footsteps were heard and Damon appeared in the doorway.

Arlie glowered at him, to which he ignored it, and went to pour himself a drink. Elijah had picked up the bottle of elixir, putting it back in its box and closed the look.

"Well, it sounds like you won't be needing this anymore. Feeding her vampire blood rendered it useless. Tell Elena I'll be back before nightfall. We'll proceed as planned."

"We all know that elixir wouldn't have worked anyway." He looked at Arlie. "Wouldn't it be better for your sister to come back a vampire than to not come back at all?"

"It would be  _better_ for you to allow her to make her own choices, dick," she snapped, putting her hands on her hips and ignored the urge to grin as the very corners of Elijah's lips quirked at her words.

"The problem, Damon, is you talk a good game, but you don't actually know anything. She'll never forgive you. And never for a vampire...is a very long time." His gaze was neutral on Damon, but when he looked at Arlie, he smiled softly. Holding out his hand, she took it without question and he tucked it into his elbow, leading her from the room.

"Whose side are you on, Arlie?" Damon called out, voice laced with venom.

She paused just outside the door and took her hand away long enough to spin around. "The side where my sister gets to make her own decisions, not where other people chose her life for her," she said calmly, before turning back around and allowing Elijah to take her hand once more.

* * *

After Damon and Alaric went out drinking, and Stefan and Elena went into the woods to be alone, Arlie and Jenna were left alone at the boarding house. Arlie didn't think it was the smartest thing to do leaving both Jenna and herself alone in the house, but then again, it wasn't as if anybody could get in considering the deed was still under Elena's name. Only she could invite people in, so there was no chance of Klaus getting in there while they were all away. It was kind of nice, though, to be able to spend some time with Jenna by herself and figure out how she was feeling. If anybody could understand, it was Arlie.

"Jeremy was dating Anna," she said in response to Jenna's question about how he found out.

Jenna's eyes went wide. "Anna was a vampire?"

Arlie nodded. "I guess she had been for awhile, at least since Damon and Stefan were human which was 1864. She and her mother, Pearl, lived in Mystic Falls back then. They owned the apothecary shop that eventually became Dad's practice."

"Small world," Jenna muttered.

Arlie let out a humorless laugh. "You're telling me," she muttered.

"So how about you? How did you find out?"

Arlie groaned. "A couple vampires kidnapped Elena and I. It was after the one dance at the Lockwood's—there are so many, I can't remember which one—but a couple vampires had Elena taken because she's the doppelgänger. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was knocked out and we were taken to a house three hours away, just over the boarder in North Carolina. They wanted to hand over the doppelgänger to Elijah in exchange for their immunity from their past 'crimes.'" She shrugged. "I guess they had been running for about five hundred years when one of them—Trevor—helped the original doppelgänger—Katherine—escape from Klaus. Elijah is his brother and was going to grant them pardon for giving her over. Only Stefan and Damon showed up." She snorted. "The looks on Rose and Trevor's faces when they realized I was the doppelgänger's sister who had no idea about vampires was hilarious." She paused. "Believe me, I understand. If it had been up to me, we would've told you sooner. But it was Elena's idea."

Jenna had sat there in shock the whole time, her eyes wide and mouth dropped open a bit as she stared at Arlie. "So...Elijah's a vampire, too?"

Arlie chuckled and took a sip of her infamous coffee. "One of the oldest. Klaus and Elijah are called Originals. Their family were the first vampires ever created a thousand years ago. I guess there were more, but I don't know what happened to them. As far as I know, only Klaus and Elijah are left."

"But Elijah wants his own brother dead," she said matter-of-factly.

Arlie shrugged. "More or less. I think it's partly revenge, partly hurt. Elijah was once loyal to him, but Klaus, I guess, pissed him off one too many times and so Elijah hates him for it now." She shook her head. "If you think our family has drama, just wait until you hear about theirs." She sighed.

"This is just..." Jenna sighed, too. "This is so much to take in."

"I know," Arlie said, reaching over to squeeze her fingers. "I wish I could make it better. But I'm here, okay? I won't let anything happen to you."

"But I should be the one looking out for  _you_ ," Jenna protested and Arlie frowned.

"I wish it worked that way. Right now, I know more about them than you do. It has to be me."

Jenna didn't look thrilled, but she didn't argue. She just sat back and sipped on the water she help, too wound up for coffee and having too many questions to drink. Though Arlie would've loved for a reason to break into Damon's liquor bottles just to piss him off.

They sat there for a few moments, both just thinking, until Jenna's phone rang. It broke the silence and both women jumped, laughing softly as Jenna fished it out of her pocket and saw  **Alaric Calling** flash across the screen. They both looked at each other before Jenna answered.

"Hello?" She paused and then frowned. "Elena? What..." Immediately she stood up. "What's wrong? ... Yeah, yeah I'll be right there. Just hold on, okay? ... Yeah, just hold on." She looked over at Arlie in a panic, who had also jumped up as soon as she heard Elena's name and the tone Jenna was using.

"What is it, Aunt Jenna, what's wrong?" Arlie demanded.

"I-I don't know, Elena's in trouble. She said to come quickly." She started tugging on her jacket and looking for her car keys.

"I'm coming with you," Arlie said, holding up her hand when Jenna went to argue. "No time to try and talk me out of it."

Jenna sighed, but relented and immediately both women went for the front door. Arlie tugged her Converse back on quickly, tugging on a hoodie of Stefan's as the night air grew a bit chilly, and Jenna opened the door. Arlie thought it would be a straight shot for the car, but as soon as Jenna was outside, she screamed and Arlie heard scuffling. Her heart leapt into her throat and she knew immediately that wasn't Elena on the phone. It was Katherine, and she had called to lure Jenna out so somebody could grab her.

"Jenna!" Arlie cried out, quickly running out and grinding to a halt just inside the door.

There was one person there, a lone man who was taller than her by probably a good seven inches with short, curly, dark blond hair and... _oh_. Those were the dark blue eyes from her dream. Well, not even really a dream, they were just on her mind the entire time she slept, staring at her with love and affection and she had woken up wanting more. And right there they were in front of her, though she watched as they disappeared, changing as crimson crept in and veins turned dark, just long enough to bite into his wrist and force it against Jenna's mouth. Jenna's scream was muffled and Arlie watched in horror as she choked down some mouthfuls of blood, and then the Original wasted no time in bringing his hands up, wrapping one around her mouth, the other in her hair, and then he twisted. The loud crack rand through the silent yard, at least until there was a loud scream, and it took a couple moments for Arlie to realize that it was coming from her own mouth.

" _No_!" she cried, and it seemed that he was brought out of his goal now that it was finally complete.

She didn't care that this was Klaus, right there in the flesh, and not in Alaric's body. She didn't care that stepping out of that house would be incredibly dangerous on her part. And she didn't care that his eyes haunted her when they had absolutely no reason to do so. Because she was Arlie, not Aila, and they shouldn't be there. But None of that mattered as tears began to splash down her cheeks and she stumbled out the door, crossed the feet between her and her aunt, and carefully brought her closer.

It was clear her neck was broken, and with the crimson staining her lips, it was also clear that she would wake up in transition. It was something Arlie didn't want for her aunt, her sister, herself, or anyone.

"No no no no," she whispered, gently shaking Jenna's shoulders. "No, Jenna, wake up.  _Please_ wake up!"

Her heart cracked inside her chest, open and broken and bleeding as she sniffed and slowly she looked up at the Original who, it seemed, was trying very hard to keep any emotions off his face, but the way his eyes were so wide and his body was completely rigid, it was clear that he wasn't having very much luck. At that moment, as soon as their eyes connected, the flash of Elijah walking with her down the aisle changed to a small chapel with a priest and Klaus standing at the front, a soft loving smile on his lips with two other men behind him, and a blonde woman in front of him. Elijah helped her up between Klaus and the blonde, helping her step up onto the raised alter, and all she could see or feel was Klaus's smile, before it faded away and they were back there, Jenna carefully pulled onto Arlie's lap in the Salvatores' driveway.

"You killed her," she whimpered, looking back down, her shaking fingers running over Jenna's face. "She was innocent, and you killed her!" She looked back up, her face twisted in pain and anger. "Why couldn't you have just taken me?!"

She stood then, carefully setting Jenna down, her legs and arms trembling as she stared him down, unafraid of what he would do to her. Let him kill her, it wouldn't matter. But he still hadn't said a word, just let her yell, let her be angry and that made her even angrier at him. For some reason, though, she couldn't throw Aila in his face. The words stuck in her throat, wanting to just yell at him, "I heard you let your wife die, but I'm not her! I'm not Aila!" But she just couldn't, almost as if she were afraid of hurting him, which was ridiculous because she was furious. And if she didn't hate him before, she surely did then.

" _Well_?" she demanded, hands going to her hips only after angrily pushing tears off her face. "You killed my aunt, you  _want_ to kill my sister... Who's next, my brother?" She shrugged. "May as well get it over with and kill me, too. Just stab me right in the heart."

And then he flinched, all the emotions that he had been trying to hide flittering across his face for the briefest of moments, staring at her like she had just staked him, but as soon as it appeared it disappeared, and he smirked at her with no amount of humanity on his face. For that second she realized she caught a glimpse of the real Klaus. Yes, he was cruel and psychotic and had killed thousands of people. But deep down, she realized he was just as hurt as Elijah was about Aila's passing. Was that where all this started? Was she the reason he was trying to break this curse? Did he think he could get her back somehow if he were to waken his werewolf side?

_It doesn't matter. He just killed Jenna,_ she told herself, keeping her own look firmly in place, though she did let some of her hatred fall through. That seemed to take a little off the smirk, but this time he didn't let any cracks show.

"Sorry, love. I have other plans for you." He reached down, took Jenna's wrist, and a second later they were gone, leaving Arlie alone in the driveway with a nauseated stomach, a heavy heart, and the horrible feeling that something was about to go seriously wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outfits for chapter four:
> 
> \- [New Day](https://www.polyvore.com/arlie_chapter_four_five_an/set?id=226605290)


	5. The Sun Also Rises

**-Arlie-**

The first person home was Damon as the rest of them she figured had gone off to the old witch house with Bonnie and Jeremy to start their plan. But Damon hadn't, he had come to the boarding house either to change or get more booze, Arlie wasn't quite sure. But she sat on the front steps, staring at the spot that Klaus and Jenna's body had disappeared from, silent tears falling down her face. His footsteps barely registered in her mind until he was right in front of her, his boots blocking her vision of Jenna's last spot on the driveway, so she was forced to slowly look up at him. At first it looked as if he were going to say something sarcastic, but as soon as he saw her tears, immediately the grin and every amount of sarcasm faded off his face and he frowned. For a moment they just gazed at each other before he turned to sit next to her, their arms and legs touching, but neither saying anything for a few moments, not until Arlie spoke up first.

"Jenna's dead."

Damon's head whipped in her direction, his icy blue eyes wide with confusion and alarm. For a moment he didn't look like he knew what to say before he looked into the boarding house as if she were right in there inside. Arlie shook her head.

"Klaus took her," she whispered. She brought her legs up to her chest and locked her arms around them as Damon looked back at her. "He made her drink from him, and then he broke her neck." She blinked back tears and then looked over to Damon again, her bottom lip quivering. "Klaus is going to kill her and Elena both. Jeremy and I are going to be alone—"

" _Hey_." He stopped her words and turned her towards him, taking her face in the palms of his hands. She had never heard his voice so soft and it made more tears fall. His thumbs wiped away at them and he gave her a sad smile. "You will  _never_ be alone, Arlie, got it?" He shook his head. "Even if they are gone, you'll always have me and Stefan."

Arlie frowned. "But...you don't even  _like_ me. You put up with me because of Elena."

"That's not true." He shook his head with a matching frown. "I love picking on you, but that doesn't mean I don't like you."

"If Elena weren't here, you wouldn't even want me around."

Damon's frowned deepened. "I had no idea you felt that way."

She sighed. "Nobody does," she mumbled. She sniffed and wiped at her tears. "And nobody ever will. So don't tell them. This conversation is over. I don't need a heart-to-heart. I want to find this fucker that killed my aunt and rip his heart out through his chest." Damon even looked a bit scared as she stood and turned on her heel, stomping into the house and going to the cabinet in the corner of the living room where the Salvatores kept their weapons and started grabbing things out. Even though none of it would work to kill the Original, at least it would wound him until Bonnie could kill him.

By the time Damon, he was on the phone to what was probably Stefan, his voice echoing around the room as he spotted her, his lips pressing into a thin line and he went over to try and take the weapons from her, but her eyes blazed and she ripped them out of his grip.

"You're not going to like what I'm about to say. ... It's happening. I tried to stop it, but it got...complicated. ... He's got Jenna, Stefan. ... He got Kath to lure her out of the house. ... He's going to use her as the vampire in the ritual."

Arlie wished she could hear what was going on on the other end, but she was too busy stalking towards the front door with her weapons in hand and, you know,  _being human_ so she didn't have the super vampire hearing to hear what was going on on the other end of the phone. Damon's back was to her and she knew he would try and stop her, so she took the moment to quickly slip out the door and head off towards the woods. While she had only been the witch house once or twice, she was actually pretty good with directions. Since she was only human and Damon was a vampire, he could easily catch up with her, but she chose to ignore that part as she headed quickly into the woods behind the boarding house.

It took about fifteen minutes to get from the boarding house to the witch house, and she was panting by the time she got there. Her legs felt like jello, but she kept quiet, keeping herself back from the group she saw outside, consisting of Bonnie, Stefan, and Elijah. Part of her wanted to go over to them—especially Elijah because, after all, this was his brother's destruction they were plotting—but she didn't. While she had run, she had come up with a plan and so she waited for them to leave. Arlie knew that they would never let her go with them otherwise, so she planned to sneak over with them. If they didn't know she was there, they couldn't stop her. She had every intention on doing whatever it is she could to stop this from happening...even if it meant using the information Elijah told her against Klaus. But she  _would_ save her sister, or try her damnedest to, even if she died in the process.

Slowly she crept to the side of the house and waited there, angling her body so she could listen, but not be spotted.

"Why did he take Jenna?" Bonnie was asking.

"A punishment for meddling," Elijah said with a sigh, making Arlie frown.

"Klaus was going to use Tyler and Caroline," Stefan said. "But Damon rescued them."

"Then we need to go. Now. Before Jenna's been sacrificed. I can kill Klaus myself."

"Bonnie..." Stefan started, "if you use that much power, you'll be dead. We've already been through this. It's not an option."

"Neither is letting Jenna die."

"Well, Stefan would agree with you," Elijah said. Arlie frowned deeper.

"We're going to offer another vampire. One that he'll want more." He paused. "Me."

Arlie's eyes went wide and she heard Bonnie begin to argue, but she tuned her out as she slid to the ground and thought over her plan and she knew what she would do. She would follow them over and hide until the moment Klaus had his back turned, and then she would strike. She might get hurt, she might die, her plan might fail, but maybe it would be enough of a distraction that Bonnie could do the spell she needed to kill him. At least then she wouldn't be a sitting duck, forced to watch half of her family die because she couldn't help them. It was better than nothing; she had to go through with it.

"Arlie's gone."

The sound of her name brought her bouncing back to reality and she looked up quickly, seeing that Damon in his Camaro had arrived while she was spaced out thinking. She edged a little closer to the house, keeping herself hidden even as she heard Stefan curse softly and then the soft whoosh as another vampire—probably Elijah—confronted him.

" _What_?" he asked sharply. "I requested for you to keep her at the house. Did you not listen to me?"

Arlie's eyebrows went up in surprise. Elijah wanted Damon to keep her there? Why? Did she really mean that much to him? Did he really care? Or was he thinking of Aila again? Arlie gritted her teeth and reached down to grab a stake out of her pocket, just to have something to do, softly driving it into the ground and watching as the dirt bloomed around it as it invaded the space.

Damon scoffed. "Read ya loud and clear, buddy, but I'm not her keeper. She was there when Jenna was taken, and—"

"She saw Klaus?" Elijah interrupted, his voice even sharper than before.

"Whoa,  _chill_. Yeah, I think she saw him, but he didn't hurt her. Just turned Jenna and left. But she saw it all, she was a little..."

"Freaked out?" Stefan supplied.

"Sounds about right," Damon confirmed. "I was on the phone with you talking about Jenna, and when I turned back she was gone."

Elijah growled. "Insolent child," he muttered. But he didn't clarify if he meant Damon or Arlie, and Damon was smart enough not to ask.

"Well, while you two have an aneurysm, I'm going to go ask witchy if she has what she needs." A moment later, Arlie could tell it was just Stefan and Elijah when she heard Elijah sigh and the soft shuffle of Stefan's feet.

"He might act callous, but I know he didn't mean to lose her," Stefan said. He paused. "Why  _did_ you ask him to keep her there, by the way? I mean, you just met her, why the interest in her wellbeing?"

"Moreover, you care about her wellbeing, do you not?" Elijah asked coldly.

"Of course I do," Stefan said instantly, and it made Arlie's heart melt and a small smile creep across her lips. "She's safer there where nothing can hurt her. I just didn't think you did as well."

"There is no reason for her to get swept up into this... _chaos_. I would prefer it if she stayed there." He paused. "And if you and Damon would look out for her. She trusts the both of you, and that does not seem easy to come by."

Stefan let out a single chuckle. "Not in the least." He paused. "But she trusts you. Very quickly, too, I might add."

Elijah merely let out a hum and it signified the end of their conversation. Arlie let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, but was quiet about it so the two vampires didn't hear her. Frankly she was surprised she had sat there so long without anybody noticing—especially the vampires—but she was grateful. She didn't want anyone to know of her plan, and she didn't want anyone to try and stop her.

"Bonnie did the locator spell. They're at Steven's Quarry," Elijah finally said, breaking the silence and going back to the matter at hand.

"I'll head over there first and you'll follow with Bonnie when it's time," Stefan said.

"Just as the moon hits its final phase. She's to stay hidden until then. He cannot know that she's alive."

Stefan nodded and Arlie heard him begin to walk away, but then Elijah's voice rang out. "You're very honorable."

"Are you?" Stefan questioned. "Because this whole plan is, um, it's contingent upon your honor, Elijah."

"I won't fail you." A pause. "Or anybody else." Arlie knew it was silly, but for a moment she felt that perhaps that was directed at her.

"Klaus is your brother. I know I've wanted to kill my brother a thousand times. I've never been able to."

"Well, Klaus was not my only brother. I had siblings; parents. I had a family. Over the centuries, Klaus hunted them down one by one and he took them from me. He scattered them across the seas where their bodies could not be found."

"You want revenge," Stefan confirmed.

"Sometimes there's honor in revenge, Stefan. I won't fail you."

"Please end this." With that, Stefan left, and Arlie made her move.

Elijah was still standing outside the house, so she had to skirt around the back of it and move carefully after Stefan, avoiding branches and leaves the best she could. Luckily he was going pretty fast and seemed incredibly intense on getting to the quarry that even if she had stepped on something, he probably wouldn't have noticed. Even so, Arlie didn't want to take a chance so she gripped the stake she had tighter, made sure she still had the mini crossbow on her back and the vervain grenades in her pockets, before continuing after the vampire.

It seemed like it took forever even though the quarry was just a ten minute walk through the woods, even for a human.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Salvatore?"

Arlie was brought up short by the sound of Klaus's voice, full of mirth and amusement as he spoke. Slowly she peaked around a tree, realizing they were at the top of the quarry looking down over a scene straight from a horror movie. On one side there was a woman standing chanting over a bowl that lay on a tree stump. On the other side there were two rings of fire, one of which held her twin and one of which held her aunt. Every instinct in her had her running down that hill and jumping over those rings of fire to get her sister and aunt out of there. But she was also not dumb enough to believe that they were spelled so they couldn't get out, which meant that nobody could get in. Plus, Klaus was right there, and she knew he would catch her before she stepped two feet.

As she had at the old witch house, she missed part of the conversation by zoning out, so she brought herself to the present so she could figure out what was going on.

"Don't play games with me. You'll get what you want either way."

"You're quite the hero, aren't you? I've heard that about you," Klaus said, slowly circling Stefan, and Stefan tilted his head in Klaus's direction as he walked.

"Just make the trade. Me for Jenna."

Klaus smirked. "What about your friend in the bushes? Who will trade be traded for them?" Arlie's eyes went wide at the same time Stefan's brow furrowed, but she saw the alarm on his face and the way he froze. Klaus chuckled lowly and turned in her direction and, while she was confident he couldn't see her right in that moment, she knew the moment she stepped out from behind the tree he would be able to and she cursed to herself. "Come on out now, love. Join the party."

Arlie inwardly groaned and outwardly sighed, gingerly picking herself up away from the tree and stepping around it. Klaus's face went ashen and blank when he saw her while Stefan's eyes went wide.

"Arlie, what are you doing here?" he demanded breathlessly, his voice panicked and for a moment she wondered if he went back to that conversation just a few minutes ago with Elijah about keeping her safe.

The older twin let out a shaky breath, dark eyes flickering down to her sister and aunt who she could see speaking, and then they both turned horrified looks up at her. She gave them a small smile, though she knew probably only Jenna could see it, and then turned back to Klaus who had managed to arrange his face in a much more amused and fiercer expression than he had when she first appeared.

"I'm here to save my aunt and sister," she said, ignoring the way her hand with the stake trembled at her side. This seemed to amuse Klaus more as he glanced between her face and her hand, raising an eyebrow.

"And you think you can do so with a toothpick?"

Arlie huffed. "Actually, I was going to use it to cut out your liver and then your heart. You can live without those, right?" she snapped, sneering at him.

He was quiet for a moment before he glanced to Stefan. "She has spirit, I will give you that much." He looked back at her, his even more amused expression making her angry and she glowered at him. "And what, exactly, do you think you will accomplish by doing this?"

"They'll be alive, and that's all that matters to me," she said.

"And if you fail?"

"Plan B." She matched his smirk as she brought out the last thing that she had taken from the boarding house, but this wasn't so much a weapon as an insurance policy. Damon passed out drunk a  _lot_ and so one night a couple weeks previously, she snuck a vial of his blood, knowing the wound would disappear almost immediately so she wouldn't have to worry about him finding out. There was one thing Arlie admitted to being passionately afraid of, and that was death. She had the vial with her ever since and planned on using it if she was ever close to death, that way at least she would come back as a vampire. Unlike her sister, she wasn't all that afraid or against vampirism. It would probably suck in more than one instance, but it was better than the unknown. But it was better the unknown than live without her aunt and her sister. Arlie knew she couldn't survive anymore deaths in their family.

She brought the vial up into the dull light so the vampires could see it and of course they both knew what it was, the smile washing off Klaus's face as Stefan looked even more afraid.

"Arlie, whatever you're thinking about—"

"What I'm  _thinking_ about," she said, "is saving my family! Don't you realize this now?  _I'm nothing_! I'm not precious Elena, the doppelgänger and innocent victim of random horrible violence. I'm not baby Jeremy. I'm not the courageous aunt who dropped  _everything_  to come and take care of her older sister's kids when she and her husband died in a terrible car crash.  _I'm_ the one people forget about and leave behind at parties because they have a fight with their boyfriend and only think about getting themselves out of there. I'm the one that does everything to save her little brother from becoming a drug addict, and become the bad guy because I tell it like it is.  _I'm the one_ that nearly gets  _left behind_ at houses in the middle of nowhere because two vampires are too worried about saving the girl they both love instead of getting us all to safety. But you know what else I am?  _I'm stupid_ , because I'm  _still_ the girl that would do  _anything_ to save her family. So yeah, I came here with a damn  _toothpick_ and Damon's blood so that maybe I can save  _one_ person in my family from death, because that's what I  _do_ , Stefan. That's all I'm good for. So—"

She stopped her tirade, panting and her eyes blazing with unshed tears and with one quick movement, she uncapped the vial. Faintly she saw both vampires lurch for her to stop her, but she moved quick, tossing it down her throat and wincing slightly at the taste, but she knew that it wouldn't matter. Even a drop would do the trick. She dropped it to the ground and looked back up at them, face twisted in barely concealed pain and fury.

"—so now there's a choice." She brought the stake up and instead of pointing it at either of them, she pointed at herself...right over her heart. Klaus stumbled back a step, Stefan held out his hand towards her.

"Arlie, please," he whispered. "Don't do this to Elena."

"I'm doing this  _for_ Elena!" she cried. "Everything I  _do_ is  _for Elena_ , and nobody seems to  _get_ that! She's my  _twin_   _sister_  and I love her more than I'll ever love anything!"

Stefan shook his head and she was surprised to see his own tears shimmering in his eyes. "You don't have to do this. Klaus can take me."

" _No_. That's not the choice. The choice is Jenna...or  _me_." She looked over to the Original. "So what is it?" She paused and watched as he avoided her eyes. "Oh, can't look at me? Is it because I look like Aila?"

His head whipped up and he looked like she had succeeding in driving a stake through his heart, mouth opening and closing a couple times, eyes wide as Stefan frowned.

"Who's Aila?" he asked.

Arlie shrugged and gestured to Klaus. "Ask him."

Stefan looked at him and Klaus barely was able to get his face set back in a neutral line, but then he smirked at her.

"Sorry, love. I have already made my decision." And with his vampire speed, he rushed behind her, knocking the stake out of her hand, and wrapping an arm around her throat. Her eyes went wide and she struggled immediately, trying to pull away as her oxygen was cut off. Spots winked in front of her vision as her head spun and she saw Stefan look away from her, though she knew he wasn't going help, not with this. Slowly she started to lose consciousness, no matter how much she fought it, and just before she slipped away, she heard Klaus mutter into her ear, "I could never allow you to die. Sleep now, it will all be over soon."

* * *

Arlie came back to consciousness with a gasp, feeling the heat around her. For a moment she didn't know what happened, her mind muddled and full of confusion. But a moment passed before she finally let reality grasp her and she slowly looked up, seeing the heat was coming from one of those fire rings that Elena and Jenna had been in. Quickly it faded away as if the curse was broken and she coughed weakly, her limbs heavy and aching, though that was slowly disappearing. She had a feeling that had to do with Damon's blood still in her system, and that's why she woke up still there in the quarry instead of at home or the old witch house.

Still, she knew she missed a bit as she heard Stefan and Bonnie both yelling, "No!" and then the fires around them went out and it was silent.

Arlie struggled to sit up, her eyes blurry as she tried to take in her surroundings. Stefan and Bonnie were the only two there, other than the bodies of Jules— _When did_ she  _get here?_ —Greta, and...

"Jenna!" Arlie gasped. Stefan and Bonnie quickly looked over to her, but she waved them off as they came for her, stumbling up into a half-crawl as she headed directly for her aunt. Her hands were shaking again and she let out a sob as she brought Jenna close to her, head on her lap. There was a stake sticking out of her body— _Oh my god, that's the one I brought!_ —and her skin was gray, her veins dark. She let out a louder sob and pulled her closer, rocking gently as her heart broke over and over again, shaking her head as she denied the fact that her aunt was gone. It just wasn't  _possible_. Jenna couldn't be dead, she just couldn't. She was so young, and so full of life. Jenna had been so terrified of this new vampire revelation, and all Arlie wanted to do was help her with it.

But now it was all for nothing. Jenna was gone, and that meant Elena was dead as well. She and Jeremy were alone.

"Arlie," she heard a soft, feminine voice whisper and then strong hands take her shoulders.

"No!" she croaked, but the hands didn't let go. It was when she turned to fight them off that she realized it was Stefan lifting her, but Bonnie speaking. Bonnie was crying, too, and Arlie just let out a choked sob and flung her arms around the young witch's shoulders, not seeing the way Stefan fought his sadness back as he picked Jenna up.

"Let's get back to the house," Bonnie murmured to her, pulling back and cupping her cheeks. Arlie whimpered, but she nodded and let Bonnie pull her back into her arms.

Quietly they all headed back for the old witch house, Stefan silent behind them with Jenna's body while now and then Arlie let out a sniffle, and she was glad Bonnie didn't let go of her. When the house came back into view, she hated how normal everything looked. The sun was just rising and bathing the land in its morning glow. There were birds singing, warmth creeping through the land, and yet Arlie's entire body was filled with a numb cold. She had slowly stopped crying, but her face was still covered in tears. She stared straight ahead and it took a moment to realize there was something outside on the lawn, like a pile of cloth, only when they got closer she saw a head and arms and legs.

"I-is that..." Arlie gasped. " _John_!" She hadn't even realized he was in town. She sprinted closer with Bonnie at her heels, falling to her knees and checking for his pulse. As she feared, there wasn't one, and she let out another sob despite herself. Jenna was gone, Elena was gone, and now her biological father. All she had was Jeremy, and she had to find him. She had to apologize for failing him, apologize for letting them all die, apolo—

" _Where is my sister_?!" the loud voice demanded from inside the house.

Arlie sat back, startled and looked up at Bonnie and Stefan, wondering if they heard it, too. By the looks on their faces, she wasn't going crazy, and she stood up, taking a step out of the way. Barely did Stefan register behind her as he gently set Jenna down next to John and pulled the stake from her chest afterwards. Arlie didn't notice because she was so focused on that voice, the one she was most familiar with, that she had heard every single day for her entire life, the one she thought she would never hear again.

" _Elena_ ," she whispered. She glanced over at Bonnie who gave her a small, watery smile and nodded. Arlie took off sprinting for the house, almost knocking into Damon, Jeremy, and Alaric in the hallway as she skidded to a halt in what looked like it was once a living room.

The other twin stopped her yelling demands and stood there, staring at Arlie like she saw a ghost. Of course, the look on Arlie's face was the same as everything in her told her that Elena was gone. But as soon as she saw her twin, that connection flared back to life, stronger and more powerful than ever. She felt her life connected to her twin's, something she had felt as a kid and well into her teenage years. Sadly soon after her parents died, that faded away and she had felt so alone. But now? Now it was back. They shared a devastation, a horror, and a tragedy that nobody else could really understand. For a little while, Elena was dead and Arlie knew what it was like to live in a world without her twin sister.

She didn't like it one bit.

With a sob breaking the silence, Arlie flung herself into Elena's arms and the younger twin caught her with a happy cry. The two Gilbert sisters cried together, tears wetting shirts and shoulders, but neither of them cared. Arlie knew she couldn't deal with anymore heartache right then, and she couldn't deal with being away from her twin. It was too close of a call, and she would fight tooth and nail against anyone that came between them, who threatened to take them away from each other.

Eventually Jeremy joined them and the sisters giggled as they opened their arms and allowed Jeremy in. Their little brother now towered over them both, so they both placed their cheeks against his chest and squeezed each other.

"Alright, enough group hugging, we have shit to get done," Damon interrupted. "Like dead people to bury."

All three Gilberts pulled back and glared at him and he held up his hands, walking away. But his intervention did bring up the elephant in the room, and this time Arlie's tears were from sadness. She sat both of her siblings down on the couch and she sat in a chair in front of them, staring at her hands.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't stop it," she whispered. "I tried so hard." Her voice broke off into a whimper, and Elena reached forward to take her hands.

" _Hey_ ," she whispered. "It's not your fault. You tried to save her. You were so brave. It's not your fault."

"It should've been me."

" _No_ ," Jeremy said immediately. "No it  _shouldn't've._  I loved Jenna and I didn't want her to die, but if it was you?" He shook his head. The statement trailed off and she was left staring at her hands, sniffing slightly.

"Who's Aila?"

Arlie's head came up quickly. "What?" she asked, stunned.

"Aila?" Jeremy wondered, raising an eyebrow.

Elena nodded. "Yeah, when you were up talking with Stefan and Klaus, she told me everything you were saying." Both twins frowned at the remembrance of Arlie's little breakdown, the one she most definitely didn't mean to let slip out. And Arlie knew that would be discussed later, but right then wasn't the time. "So who is she?"

For a moment Arlie didn't know what to say, but she shrugged. Finally she just said, "I don't really know. Elijah mentioned her that day at the Lockwoods when you came back to help Jenna."

"She's connected to Klaus somehow?" Jeremy said.

Arlie nodded. "I guess so."

"But you mentioned you look like her."

Jeremy frowned.

Arlie sighed. "I guess I do a little, according to Elijah."

Elena frowned. "You trust him?"

Arlie nodded. "I did." She paused. "I never found out what happened." So Elena told her the story and gave her the rundown that Damon did after she had "died."

Arlie's mouth opened in shock as she looked at her. "I can't believe he would do that," she whispered as the reality of his betrayal settled over her.

It felt like someone poured acid down her throat, it was that hurtful. Elijah had seemed like he had cared about this cause and what would happen if it wasn't completed. But then again, she supposed she did understand. If it were Elena or Jeremy off the rails and she had a chance to try and save them from themselves, she would take every opportunity to do so. Still, it did sting a little, and she realized everything she had felt around him had been silly. She just met the guy and he wanted to hand over her sister to die, and yet she felt a kinship with him? She felt like he was a kind man who truly cared about her and like he was her brother as much as Jeremy was...or worse, even more so? No, he was just like Klaus, doing things for his own gain and not caring who he hurt along the way. She vowed right then and there not to let her mind get mixed up in all those senseless, silly feelings, or allow those flashes of the chapel and him walking with her affect her.

Eventually she shook her thoughts away and together with Elena and Jeremy, they got up to go help the Salvatores with their aunt and uncle, all of them ready to say goodbye.

* * *

Arlie didn't have a lot that was appropriate for a funeral, so the only thing she could do was wear the same dress she wore to her parents' almost a year ago. It was black silk with a high neck and no sleeves and went down to about mid-thigh. She wore simple black, open-toed pumps and while she rarely wore jewelry, she had on the diamond earrings that her father had given to her mother on their anniversary ten years previously. Her hair she kept long and wavy, pulling back a couple strands by her face to clip at the back of her head, and she went with no makeup other than some lipgloss and the smallest bit of mascara.

Once she was done, she numbly walked into her sisters room and happened to arrive at the same time as Jeremy.

"I'm almost ready," Elena said as she eyed her siblings.

"Yeah, take your time," Jeremy assured.

Arlie nodded. "Yeah, I'm not in any hurry to do this."

Elena let out a shaky breath and finished with her earrings before checking her hair once more in the mirror.

"John wanted me to give you two these," Jeremy said, pulling a couple envelops from his pocket and handing one the with  **Elena** on the front over to her, and then the one with  **Arlene** over to her. Arlie rolled her eyes a bit, but she pulled the letter close, though she didn't open it. While she fully acknowledged that Miranda and Grayson Gilbert weren't her biological parents, it was hard to also acknowledge that John and Isobel were. She had never met Isobel except for the one time she showed up at the house, and while of course she knew John, she always hated him. But they were still family, and now with Grayson and Miranda gone, Jenna, Isobel, and even John... They had no parents left, and by the looks on Jeremy and Elena's faces, they knew it very well.

"And this," Jeremy said then, handing over something to Elena. Arlie peaked over to it and saw the Gilbert ring.

Arlie raised an eyebrow. "Well, color me shocked," she said softly.

Elena hesitantly took it and held it close before she looked up to see Jeremy leaving.

"Jeremy..." she called, trailing off as he paused and looked back at her. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that you've lost so many people."

Arlie could see the tears coming and she looked down at her feet.

"I still have you two," he said gently and both sisters looked up at him, smiling softly, to which he returned it before heading out.

Elena looked over to Arlie and let out a shaky sigh before finishing up, placing her letter and the ring on her dresser, and then wrapping her arm through Arlie's. Together the twins walked downstairs to join the Salvatores, Alaric, Bonnie, Caroline, and Jeremy. The drive to the cemetery was silent, and the twins didn't let go of each other once. Arlie hated that it was such a bright, sunny, cheerful day. To her it should be rainy and gray and sad, but she supposed the whole world couldn't stop being happy for one person. Though she knew that her happiness was dimming the closer they got to the cemetery.

Everyone was silent as they got out, Elena and Arlie leading the way with Jeremy close behind them. The others all followed and together the siblings found their way over to the Gilbert plot where Grayson and Miranda already were, and then the freshly dug graves for John and Jenna. Arlie let out a shaky breath and together she and Elena placed a rose on Jenna's grave, a rose on John's grave, and then one for each of their parents. Arlie could feel her heart clenching with pain as she stared at the four graves of people she once never thought she'd lose. While she wanted to go numb once again, it was if her body wouldn't let her. It wanted her to feel all this pain, wanted her to feel their deaths, especially Jenna's, so when the time finally came, she would be able to help kill Klaus.

 _And even Elijah if I have to,_ she thought bitterly towards the man she once thought a friend.

Looking up, she saw Elena openly crying and she reached over to squeeze her hand, her own tears falling for her twin's heartbreak. She saw Alaric place flowers on Jenna's grave and then leave, patting Jeremy's shoulder lightly. Off to the side she saw Stefan and Damon talking and then Damon leave after squeezing Stefan's shoulder. She couldn't see the look on Stefan's face, but she could see how tense his body was, and she knew that whatever Damon told him wasn't good.

Arlie sighed.  _That's a problem for another day_ , she thought, turning to embrace her crying sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outfits for chapter five:
> 
> \- [The End](https://www.polyvore.com/arlie_chapter_four_five_an/set?id=226605290)  
> \- [Funeral](https://www.polyvore.com/arlie_chapter_five_an_eternity/set?id=226876710)


	6. As I Lay Dying

**-Arlie-**

For the longest time, Arlie lay staring at the ceiling of her bedroom, all through the night and well into the next day, not caring enough to move a muscle. All night long her mind went between the fact that the anniversary of her parents' death was coming up, that her aunt and uncle just died, her sister very nearly died, she and her siblings were now alone, Elijah's betrayal, the fact she looked like Klaus's dead wife, and the flashes of...whatever it was she was getting whenever she was near Elijah and Klaus... She hated it all and wanted it to end. She wanted to go back to the beginning of junior year and start all over again. Forget that Stefan Salvatore even came to Mystic Falls, forget that vampires existed, let herself grieve over her parents deaths... And Arlie hated the fact that if none of that happened, her sister wouldn't be happy with Stefan, and they wouldn't be as close as they were then. Everything that happened, especially with what happened the night before, brought them closer together. And deep down Arlie knew she wouldn't wish away any of it. She cared for the Salvatores, she wanted this closeness with Elena again, and deep down, she cared for Elijah as well, even though she still hated him for betraying them.

With an aggravated sigh, she rolled over and buried her whole body under the covers, pushing her face under her top pillow, and wondering if she would finally be able to fall off into sleep, but that hope was dashed when her door banged open, there was a flutter of breeze, and then there was somebody jumping on the bed. Arlie groaned and shook her head, though she knew that whoever it was wouldn't be able to see her. And she had a feeling she knew who it was by the excitement quivering in their body and the way they couldn't sit still.

"Go away, Caroline," she grumbled, knowing that it had to be her, and she could hear Arlie no matter how softly she spoke. That was confirmed when Caroline scoffed and she felt her blankets get tugged away, making her groan.

"Not a chance," Caroline sang. "Up you go. You're coming with me, Jeremy, and Elena to Movie In the Square today."

That just made Arlie groan louder. "No way in hell."

" _Yes_  way in hell," Caroline said, tugging away her pillow next. "If we can drag Jeremy along, then we can drag you along as well."

Arlie huffed and kept her face hidden in the bed, but slowly turned over and glowered at her siblings and friend standing in the room. Elena and Caroline were grinning, but Jeremy sent her a winced, empathetic look that told her this wasn't his idea in the least and she shouldn't blame him. No, she was definitely blaming the other two grinning girls as she sighed and sat up, causing Caroline to squeal.

" _Fine_ , but let me shower and get dressed."

"Yay! Okay, hurry up! I want a good seat." Caroline clapped her hands and stood up, flouncing out of the room with Elena at her heels. Jeremy paused once more.

"It'll be fun?" he tried.

Arlie rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah. Thanks for trying, Jer."

He simply grinned softly and headed out of the room so his sister could get dressed.

The oldest Gilbert wanted nothing more than to grab her blankets and crawl back into bed, but she knew that she would have Hurricane Caroline on her in an instant if she even tried, so she forced herself up and across the hall into a shower. She yawned her way through it—considering she slept a grand told of maybe thirty minutes the whole night—barely realizing what was going on before she was back in her room, throwing her pajamas into the hamper and grabbing out some light, ripped denim skinny jeans, a plain white t-shirt, a black cardigan, and her infamous Converse. While she was comfortable, her previous clothing choice of gray pajama shorts and a light pink sweatshirt that said "Girls Bite Back"—her favorite jab at Damon whenever he was around—was much preferred. Still, she grabbed her phone and shoved it in her pocket before heading downstairs to meet up with the others.

Elena drove with Caroline in shotgun and the other two in the back. Caroline talked nonstop on the way there, but Arlie pretty much tuned her out as she stared out the window. Part of her was trying not to fall asleep, the other part of her still couldn't stop thinking about everything. While she wanted the first thing in her mind to be John and Jenna's deaths, Elijah's betrayal kept creeping up. And she hated how much it was effecting her.  _You barely even know the guy,_ she thought.  _He's an Original. Deep down, he's probably as psycho as his brother. Who you also don't even know. All you know is one killed your aunt and nearly killed your sister, and the other betrayed you. Don't get attached._

And yet the flashes of the chapel just wouldn't leave her alone.

Sucking in a breath, she sat up straight from where she was leaning against the window, causing Jeremy to look over at her and she gave him a smile, shaking her head. She wasn't near ready to tell anybody what was going on, especially because she didn't understand it herself. It was bad enough Stefan heard her mention Aila to Klaus; she truly hoped he didn't say anything to Elena, or that Jenna hadn't before she died.

Just a couple minutes later, Caroline pulled the car up outside of the town square where the movie was being held. There was already a lot of people there, setting up picnics on blankets and chairs around. Some girls were dressed in period clothing for the event, but most were dressed casually. Arlie wished she had brought her pillow to curl up on the ground, but at least she had grabbed her sunglasses out of the car at the last moment so she could lay down on her stomach and fall asleep easier without Caroline noticing.

The older Gilbert sighed and glanced over at the banner that read  **Movie in the Square Presents: Gone With the Wind** , huffing after Caroline laid the blanket down, and then plopped herself onto it. She fit her sunglasses on and stretched over it, yawning slightly as she settled down, only she wasn't there for very long before she saw Caroline's booted feet in the way, tapping quickly against the grass. Arlie sighed and looked up at her over the top of her sunglasses.

"Don't even  _think_ about falling asleep," she said, her eyebrow raised. Arlie frowned, but sat up and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

"Fine," Arlie mumbled. "But I'm only staying a few hours. I didn't sleep well last night."

Caroline narrowed her eyes and studied her before nodding with a large grin. " _Deal_!" she said before turning with a flutter of her hair and sat down next to Elena and Jeremy. The blonde vampire started to pull food out of the picnic basket she brought.

"You brought me to see a girl movie," Jeremy complained a moment later and Arlie snorted.

This earned both siblings a look from Elena. "We had to get out of the house, Jer. This is our three hour distraction from reality."

"Is that what we're doing?" Jeremy asked sarcastically. "Pretending like our lives aren't screwed?"

"We need to do this, okay?" Elena said. "Breathe, eat, sleep, wake up, and do it all over again until one day, it's just not as hard anymore."

Caroline huffed. "Okay, less grumbling and more having fun." She grinned and held up a Tupperware container. "Who's hungry?"

"Are we really doing this?" Jeremy said with a sigh.

"Yes, we are really doing this. We are going to take a page from Scarlett. We made it through the war." She pulled out the paper plates she had and began to hand them all out. "I know you guys went through hell, and my mom knows I am a vampire, so basically it's like Atlanta has burned. And yet, in spite of everything, we persevere."

Jeremy sighed, glancing from her to the plate, to Elena and Arlie, before holding out his hand. "All right. What are we eating?"

"Something good." Caroline happily pulled out some more containers and soon they each had a chicken salad sandwich, some mixed fruit, and macaroni salad on their plates and cups full of icy cold water she kept in a thermos. Arlie hadn't realized until she was on her second helping of each that she was starving. But luckily nobody else was paying attention and even if they were, she decided she didn't care. It was food and it was delicious, so who cared?

About half an hour later, Stefan showed up, smiling at their small group, but it didn't reach his eyes. Arlie raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything as he directly approached Elena, who smiled widely at him.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey!" Elena exclaimed. "Look who couldn't resist an epic romance."

Stefan gave another half-heart smiled. "Will you come take a walk with me?"

Arlie frowned at the same time Elena did, but stayed silent as she watched Elena walk off with Stefan. "Any idea what that's about?" she wondered to Caroline and Jeremy.

"Nope!" Caroline exclaimed, earning a look from the siblings. "And I'm trying hard not to think about it. I'm going to have a good time tonight, and so are you two! Now eat up so I don't have to take anything home."

Arlie and Jeremy glanced at each other, shrugged, and then both went for helping number three.

* * *

**-Stefan-**

While his mind had been so focused on saving Elena the past few days, he did a complete flip of the switch—not the humanity switch, luckily—and focused his attention on Damon. When he had seen the werewolf bite, he had never been as scared as he had been right there. He loved Elena so much and didn't want her to die, but Damon was his brother; it was a whole other ballgame as far as he was concerned. As much as he wanted Damon gone sometimes, he couldn't let him die. And he would do anything to make sure that didn't happen, even if it meant begging the one person he should be figuring out how to kill for help.

When he entered Alaric's— _Klaus's_?—apartment, he saw Katherine sitting on the bed. Raising an eyebrow at her, he gently shut the door behind him and stepped into the center of the room, hands in his pockets.

"Hello, Katherine," Stefan said with a sigh, watching carefully as she got up, her face showing that she definitely wasn't thrilled.

"Two days, I've been waiting. I'm supposed to be free of Klaus' compulsion by now. He's supposed to be dead!" she raged.

"We ran into complications," Stefan said cryptically.

"Complications?" she sputtered.

"Doesn't really matter. I just need to find him. Do you have any idea where he might be?"

A moment later, his back was to the wall and she put a finger to her lips, her eyes daring him to speak as the door open and footsteps sounded. The younger Salvatore glanced over her shoulder to see Klaus and Elijah entering, the former of which looked either amused or annoyed, though they both looked the same in Stefan's eyes.

"Klaus, you're back. Look who decided to come for a visit," Katherine faux gloated, smirking as she looked over her shoulder to the Original.

"You just keep popping up, don't you?" Klaus smirked as he stared at the younger vampire.

"I need your help...for my brother."

"Well, whatever it is, it's gonna have to wait a tick. You see, I have an obligation to my brother that requires my immediate attention."

"You understand how important family is, or you wouldn't be here. My brother gave me his word that he would reunite me with my own," Elijah explained, stopping in the middle of the room as he looked at Stefan evenly, seemingly having no remorse for his part in betraying them, though Stefan shouldn't be too shocked at that.

"And so I shall." The hybrid had turned to face the counter and picked something up, turning it over in his hands before flashing back to his older brother, producing the dagger that Alaric and then Elena had used, and stabbed him through the heart.

Elijah yelled in fury and betrayal and Stefan watched as the Original's skin turned gray and his veins darkened, his hands clutching onto Klaus's jacket as slowly he began to fall. Klaus smirked at his brother as he held him up, only when Elijah's body went limp did he let go, the elder falling to the ground dead at their feet. Klaus turned to Stefan then and flashed over, pushing him up against the wall much like Katherine had done moments before.

"Now, what am I gonna do with you?" With that he produced a stake and pushed it through Stefan's stomach, the latter feeling it ever so slightly graze his heart and he groaned, doubling forward against Klaus so the Original was holding him up. "Do you feel that? It's scraping against your heart. The slightest little movement and you're dead."

"He's just trying to help his brother," Katherine said bravely from behind them, but Klaus ignored her.

"The witches said you had a cure. Make me a deal. Just give me the cure, and I'll do whatever you want," he rasped, ignoring the pain through clenched teeth as he writhed on the floor, feeling as his body slowly healed itself from the invasion.

Klaus sighed and pulled out the stake, letting Stefan fall to the ground as he walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle. There was a glass on the counter he used and poured out thick, crimson liquid, taking a sip before smirking at Stefan. "Trouble is I don't know if you'd be any good to me the way you are now. You are just shy of useless."

* * *

**-Arlie-**

The oldest Gilbert would never admit just how many times she almost fell asleep. After her belly was full with Caroline's delicious food, she wanted to fall into a food coma only, of course, the blonde vampire wouldn't hear of it. Still, she did manage to lay down on the ground, head pillowed on Jeremy's lap with her cardigan which she shed a half hour previously, his hand on her shoulder as they along with Caroline and Bonnie watched the movie being projected onto the large outdoor screen. Luckily for her, the fact that she was exhausted and the movie on the screen distracted her from her wayward thoughts so the only thing in her mind was what was in front of her face, which she was incredibly happy about. The last thing she needed was for the evening to be ruined just like the night before was with her sleep deprivation and constant mind wandering.

For a moment she thought she was hearing things in her sleepy stupor, but then she realized Caroline was whispering, and instead decided to stay quiet so she could hear what was happening. Only her voice was drowned out a moment later by Jeremy's phone ringing and she sighed, moving a bit as he fished it out of his pocket, and then settled down again once it was up to his ear.

"Alaric. Hey," Jeremy said.

For a moment nothing, but then once Arlie blinked away the sleep, she was faintly able to pick out Alaric's voice. "—you're with Elena.

"She went to go see Damon. I thought that's where you were?" Jeremy questioned.

"No, he just escaped. I think he's looking for her, and the cops are after him." Alaric sighed. "Listen, he's in bad shape, Jeremy, so if you find her, get her somewhere safe, okay? I'm on my way."

Bonnie was frowning at Jeremy and Arlie sat up, glaring at the others around her. "If Damon is off the rails, there is nothing you can do to stop him. Let us take care of it," Bonnie was saying.

"So Damon's psycho now and he's after my sister and I'm just  _now_ finding out?" she scoffed. "Typical."

"What is  _that_ supposed to mean?" Bonnie demanded and Arlie whirled to her.

"I think you know," she snapped and stood, staring down at Jeremy. "You coming?"

Bonnie huffed. "Jer—"

"You keep doing this," he snapped, pulling his hand away from her. "You left me behind before, and guess what? Jenna still died. Now I'm going to find my sister. You go ahead and you try to stop me." He stood up as well, taking his sister's elbow and pulling her away from the group, leaving a fuming Bonnie and a squawking Caroline behind. For a moment Arlie stewed in her anger and resentment while Jeremy stayed quiet with his own bitterness, before Arlie broke it by sighing.

"I didn't mean to get in the middle there," she said quietly. "I'm sorry. I just hate being left out of things."

Jeremy sighed and slowed them from a jog to a quick walk and let go of her elbow. "You're telling me," he said quietly, glancing down at her with a sad smile.

* * *

**-Stefan-**

Stefan hated how slowly wounds from wooden weapons healed, but it was slowly coming back together. Luckily he could still watch as Klaus walked around, pacing slightly, and Katherine hovered over by the bed as she watched them both carefully. Eventually Klaus turned back to him, glass of blood still in his hands as he crouched down next to Stefan with a smirk.

"I heard about this one vampire, crazy bloke, always on and off the wagon for decades. When he was off, he was magnificent. 1917, he went into Monterrey and wiped out an entire migrant village... A true ripper. Sound familiar?"

"I haven't been that way in a very long time," Stefan breathed.

"Well, that's the vampire I can make a deal with." His smirked widened and he stood up. "That is the kind of talent that I can use when I leave this town." Stefan stands, his footing shaky and he stumbled back a bit, but Klaus didn't seem to notice as he looked over at Katherine. "Katerina, come here."

Katherine moved slowly, but Klaus was on her a moment later in a flash, his face changed as his eyes went amber and the veins darkened underneath, double-setted fangs extended from his gums. In one motion he bit her on the arm, and Stefan watched in alarm as she panicked. "Aah! Aah! No. No...No. No. No."

Klaus sighed and then bit his own wrist, forcing it against Katherine's mouth and all three watched as her wound stitched back together, the younger two vampires staring in confusion. "You want your cure? There it is." He let go of her and shooed her back to the bedroom, Katherine slowly rubbing her arm as Stefan's wide eyes met Klaus's.

"Your blood is the cure."

"Gotta love Mother Nature," Klaus chuckled. He put his hand on Stefan's shoulder, gripping tightly as his smirk widened again. "Now...let's talk, you and I."

* * *

**-Arlie-**

Together, the two Gilberts searched for their sister all over town, but kept coming up dry. It was aggravating Arlie who kept trying to use her "twin-sense," as Jeremy put it, to try and find Elena. But it wasn't working and so she was sulking then, walking quickly along with Jeremy back to the town square.  _At least this is something I can do to try and help rather than whine to myself about our failure,_ she thought as they entered the square again. The movie was nearly over, but everyone was still sitting around on blankets and in chairs watching with rapt attention. Sometimes she thought about how silly their town traditions were, but she supposed every small town had them at some point or another. And she also knew she wouldn't stop going to them, it was just something she's done for her entire life.

"Damon!" Jeremy's yell made her jump and brought her out of her thoughts.

Glancing around, she finally spotted the older Salvatore and frowned when she saw him stumbling about, blinking at thin air, sweating profusely. Jeremy told her that Tyler had nipped him and she had no idea that a werewolf bite did  _that_ to a vampire. She had heard from Elena what happened when Jules bit Rose, but never got to see it as she didn't even know Rose was there until after she was dead. Of course, she also was a lot more bitter over the situation than Elena had been, so she supposed that's why they kept it from her. Plus, she had just found out about vampires, and she knew it wasn't exactly handling it well.

"Where's Elena? I need to see Elena now," Damon was saying, swaying again as Jeremy caught him and helped hold him up.

"Okay," he said. "Let's get you out of here first, all right?"

"I'll go try and find Elena, you go and help Damon," Arlie said, patting Jeremy's shoulder and stepping back.

Jeremy frowned at his big sister. "You sure?"

Arlie nodded. "Yeah, Jer, I'll be fine. You go and help him, I'll go find our sister."

Jeremy looked ready to argue, but then Damon groaned and he realized he didn't have the time to argue. He sighed and nodded, leaning over to kiss his sister's temple, before they headed for the Grill. Arlie sighed once she was alone, knowing she should probably go find Stefan—wherever he got off to—or Caroline or someone with much more strength and power than her, but she didn't know where they were, and she didn't have time to look around. This was Elena, she was thinking about, she had to find her sister. Elena was who matter.

So on she walked, heading the opposite direction of the Grill, assuming that when she heard the blast from behind her that it was a car backfiring.

* * *

**-Stefan-**

Klaus brought a vial closer to him and Stefan watched as he picked up a knife, cutting his palm and letting it drain into the vial until it was half-way full. He capped it and tossed the knife aside, looking to Stefan with a raised eyebrow, setting it on the counter between them with a gesture of his hand. Stefan wasn't stupid enough to make a grab for it and run; Klaus would beat him in that any day. So he waited, eyes firmly on the hybrid.

"There it is." He gestured to the vial. "You want to save your brother? How 'bout a decade-long bender? And I have big plans for you when we leave this town."

Stefan shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not like that anymore."

"Well, that's too bad." He shrugged and took the vial back, walking over to the sink with Stefan's eyes firmly on him. "You would have made a hell of a wingman."

Klaus began to pour the blood down the sink and Stefan jumped forward a second later. "Wait," he said, holding up a hand and watching as Klaus stops pouring. Stefan looked at him for a moment before he gave a single, firm nod, showing that he understood the terms. Klaus grinned as he re-capped the vial and set it on the counter, going to the fridge and grabbing out two blood bags, keeping one next to him as he slid the other one along the counter down to Stefan, who easily grabbed it.

"Now that's more like it. I want you to join me for a drink."

Klaus watches him and Stefan hesitates only for a moment before he opens it and takes a sip. The Original shook his head. "Finish it. All of it. You do everything I say, and I save your brother. That's the deal."

Stefan glared, but drank the whole thing, his eyes slowly shutting as the delicious flavor of human blood slides down his throat and through his veins, feeling as his body strengthens in a way it hadn't in months since the time he fell off the wagon. He had promised himself—and Elena—never to do so again, but to save Damon he would do anything,  _be_ anything.  _I'm sorry, Elena,_ he thought as he drained the bag, popping off with a small noise and put the bad down on the counter, opening his eyes to view the Original.

Klaus slid the second bag to him, eyeing him carefully. "Again."

Stefan didn't pause this time, just ripped open the top and drank deeply, eyes shut tightly. By the time he was done, he was sitting against one wall, four more bags around him as he finished up the last one making it seven in total. He panted softly, leaning his head back against the wall as he savored the flavor and felt the guilt of it all at once, licking his lips as the bag dropped to the ground with the other casualties around him.

"You're very cooperative. It's almost as if you're enjoying it," Klaus said, tossing another bag to him.

Stefan shook his head. "No more. Not until you give me the cure." His eyes flickered open to warily eye the hybrid.

Klaus sighed. "Not until we make a deal. It's your choice, Stefan. You can either remain here living your life in Mystic Falls, or...you can embrace what you truly are, leave town with me, and save your brother's life." The hybrid reached down and picked up the other blood bag, kneeling in front of him and holding it in front of him. Stefan glanced at it before he snatched it, tearing it open with his newly protruding fangs and drank deep. Klaus smirked. "That's the spirit." Glancing over at Katherine, he grinned and waved her closer. "Sweetheart..." He stood up and grabbed the vial still sitting on the counter, holding it out to her. "Take this over to Damon and come right back."

Katherine's eyes went wide with barely contained joy. "You want me to leave?" she questioned.

"No!" Stefan exclaimed in a panic.

"Yes, and if I were you..." He trailed off as she took the vial and flashed out of there a second later. Klaus smirked. "I'd hurry."

Klaus sits down in a chair as Stefan let his head rest back against the wall again. "She'll never take it to him." Klaus tilted his head to the side and shrugged, uncaring if she followed through or not, and Stefan closed his eyes, his chin falling to his chest as he whispered, "She'll never take it to him."

* * *

**-Arlie-**

" _What do you mean, you fucking_ died?!"

Arlie's screech rang through the whole house and she watched as her brother wince. When she had found Alaric downstairs, she had assumed that it was because Elena still wasn't home, which she was correct about. Turned out, she had been at the boarding house, and nobody bothered to text or call Arlie to let her know. She dragged herself all around town before finally coming home in a fit of exhaustion to tell Jeremy she failed, only to find out Elena was safe—as safe as being around a hallucinating Damon could be—and that Jeremy had gotten caught in the middle of it all, shot by Liz Forbes in the Grill.

 _That's the blast I heard,_ she thought sourly, though she blamed herself for not turning around and going back to figure out where it was coming from.

Jeremy sighed and together they sat on his bed. Alaric had wisely kept out of it and stayed downstairs on the couch while Arlie raved at her brother, hand throwing and everything. Her eyes were wild with panic, fear, and anger as she stood up again, pacing in front of the youngest Gilbert as he watched her with careful eyes.

"How do you just  _forget_ to mention that you died, Jeremy?! If you didn't realize, that's  _sort of_ a big deal! Yesterday, we lost Jenna and John. We  _nearly_ lost Elena. And now you  _died_ and forget to  _tell me_!"

"I know, I know, Arlie, calm down—"

"No, Jeremy, I will not  _calm down_! You  _died_ and you didn't  _tell me_! Nobody did! Not Alaric, not Bonnie, not Caroline...and not  _you_!" She whirled back to him, eyes angry with unshed tears and she watched any argument he had die out. For some reason, he could handle Elena's tears, but he could never handle hers. At that point, she was fine with that arrangement. "You know as well as I do how it feels to be kept out of important things. It  _hurts_  and it's  _scary_ , especially when you find out that you could've done something."

"There's nothing you could've done," he whispered, reaching out to take her hand. She tried to jerk it back, but he was stronger and he pulled her closer, making her stumble so she wound up on his lap. That was when any fight she had left her as well and she let out a sob, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders as she cried. She felt her little brother hug her tight, gently calming her as his fingers ran down her back. Her heart ached, her body was exhausted, and so she just cried right there. Deep down, she knew he probably couldn't handle those tears because it was so rarely that she cried, so it shook him when she did. But right then, she didn't care. She hurt for so many different reasons, and being there with her brother...well it didn't make it okay, but it surely made it feel better.

"How'd you come back?" she sniffled against his shoulder.

"Bonnie," he murmured and she merely nodded.

Together they stayed like that for five more minutes until she pulled back and sighed, wiping her eyes and letting herself fall back onto the edge of his bed, though he kept his arm around her.

"Just... _tell_ me these things from now on, okay? Just a text. Like, 'Hey, sis, so I just died, but don't worry I'm back' would've been fine."

Jeremy actually cracked a smile and laughed a little. "I promise that next time I die, I'll let you know."

Arlie nodded. "All I'm askin'," she said, grinning slightly. She reached up to angrily push her tears away before standing and kissing the top of her brother's head. "Alright, you go to sleep, zombie boy." He gave her a fake glare as she grinned wider. "I'm exhausted, I didn't sleep last night."

"You are  _not_ calling me 'zombie boy,'" Jeremy muttered, "but go get some sleep. See you in the morning?"

Arlie nodded. "You know it."

One more hug was given to her brother before she headed into her own room. Once in there, she quickly got changed into some pajamas—gray cotton pajama shorts, a black crop t-shirt with lace at the bottom that read  **Metal 1982** on it, a cream colored cardigan, and her gray slip on slippers—before she headed down to make some chamomile tea to help her sleep. It was while she was throwing away the tea bag that she noticed how in dire need the garbage needed to go out. Alaric was snoring away on the couch and Jeremy just came back from the dead so she figured she could at least take it out.

Sighing softly, she pulled it out, replaced the bag, and padded out the back door where the big garbage cans were kept. However, standing there she didn't notice the shadowy figure standing nearby, watching as she dumped it and hurried back inside.

* * *

**-Stefan-**

Stefan watched carefully as Klaus loaded up the coffin with Elijah inside into a metal container, filled with four other coffins, assuming that was the rest of his family. His arms were crossed over his chest and he sullenly glared at the Original as he spoke with two other men, gesturing for them where to put the coffin along the inside racks.

"I suppose, brother, you've been reunited with our family," he said as he glanced once more into the coffin before closing it and letting the men take it. "Put him with the others. We're leaving town tonight." Carefully the men put it where Klaus had indicated for it to go, and the Original stepped outside. Just as he did so, Stefan's phone buzzed with a text from Elena and he glanced at it, reading as it said:

[ **text from: Elena** ] Damon's okay. Where R U?

Klaus's voice interrupted him and Stefan looked up as the Original said, "So...did Katerina make it in time?"

Stefan turned his phone off, side stepping the question as he said, "You won't be seeing her again, you know."

Klaus smirked. "Because she's on vervain?" He watched as Stefan's face twitched and chuckled lightly. "I've been around a long time, Stefan. I rarely get played for a fool. Besides, she won't get far. You'll help me see to that."

Stefan sighed and stepped up next to him, shoving his phone in his pocket and crossing his arms over his chest. "What is it you really want from me?"

"All will be explained in time. Once we leave this tragic little town." He paused. "Though there is a couple more things that I need taken care of before we leave."

"Then we'll done here? We can go?

"You see, first, I have a gift for you." He grinned and held out his hand, gesturing behind Stefan. "Come here, sweetheart. Don't be afraid." A human girl walks over from behind a crate and Stefan eyed her warily, eyes flickering back to Klaus. "See, I wanna make sure you honor our deal...that you'll be of use to me." He bites her neck and sips a little before looking back up to Stefan. "I could have compelled her to behave, but a real ripper enjoys the hunt." He let her go and she turned, running away screaming. Stefan didn't waste time, just darted after her and ripped into her neck, draining her in a moment and turning back to Klaus, his eyes still crimson with dark veins. "Now we can go." He grinned. "After you do me this one more favor."

Stefan glared. "And what would that be?"

Klaus shrugged. "I would like for you to bring Arlie to me."

That gave Stefan pause and he stopped part way back to the Original, face turning back to normal as he looked at the hybrid, bewildered. "Arlie?" he said, his voice spitting out the name in curious defensiveness. "What do you want with her?" He paused. "Does this have to do with the girl she mentioned? Aila?"

Klaus's face went dangerously dark and a moment later, he had flashed in front of Stefan, quickly grabbing his neck and lifting him off the ground as he glared at the younger vampire, not caring as he watched him dangle. "Let us get one thing straight," he snarled. "You will  _never_ speak that name again, do you understand? That name is not for your lips."

"Yes," Stefan croaked and Klaus studied him for a moment before he dropped him, Stefan falling to the concrete floor and choking slightly before he scrambled up and studied the fuming hybrid, though he was surprised to see that it wasn't just fury on his face...but bone-deep agony. As soon as he realized Stefan could see it, he quickly shuttered it and gestured out the door.

"Go. Now. Before I go and take back your brother's cure."

With no other choice but to follow his orders, Stefan flashed around him and out the door, headed for the Gilbert house.

* * *

**-Arlie-**

Arlie sighed as she finally got back in her room, ready to sleep for the next few weeks and get caught up on what she missed, and just completely forget about everything that happened. With her tea on her bedside table, she kicked off her slippers and climbed under the covers, grabbing her copy of Wuthering Heights to read before she slipped off to sleep. The chamomile definitely helped and she was getting more and more sleepy as she read, yawning slightly. It felt nice and she knew she wouldn't be keeping herself awake that night, glad that things were going somewhat back to normal, before she heard a sound.

Frowning, she looked up and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Stefan standing there. The look on his face was odd, almost a resolved guilty look, the two emotions warring on his features. He looked at her as if she were a stranger and she frowned, placing her marker in the book and slipping out of bed, looking up at him as she pulled her cardigan closer around her.

"What's going on, Stefan?" she wondered. "What's wrong?" She paused and her heartbeat picked up, her eyes going wide. "Is it Elena?" She saw him swallow thickly then and nearly flinch, but he said nothing as he flashed forward to right in front of her. She gasped softly and took a trembling step back, knocking against her bedside table and feeling her teacup rattle, before righting itself. It was her turn to gulp as she stared up at him, the fear in her heart changing from fear for Elena, to fear for herself. "S-Stefan?" she stammered as she tried to will her heart to stop beating so loudly. "What's going on?"

It was then his face crumpled a little and he reached out, gently taking her arm and drawing her closer to him, looking down at her as if he wanted to apologize for something, but couldn't quite come out with it. Finally he sighed and reached down into his pocket, gripping something she couldn't see, before finally getting out the words he wanted to say. "I'm sorry for this, Arlie."

"Wha—" She didn't get the full word out before his hand whipped out and there was a sharp pinch on her neck. She gasped, her body going rigid, and immediately the effects of whatever he just injected into her made her woozy. She began to stumble, her body trembling with fear as she slowly began to slump into his arms. Stefan easily caught her, and it surprised her with just how much care he took to wrap her arm around his shoulders and then pick her up bridal style.

"I'm so sorry, Arlie," he whispered, his voice fading in and out as the drug took hold on her system. She had no chance. "This is for Damon. I had to save my brother."  _I understand,_ she wanted to say. She would do anything for Elena and Jeremy, too. But the words were just a jumble of words as she mumbled, her head slowly falling to his shoulder and she was out like a light a moment later.

* * *

A gasp ripped from her throat as she awoke, her entire body disoriented and filled with a fuzzy feeling, like the type of feeling you got after you woke up a limb that fell asleep. She didn't know where she was, but she felt she was moving, and realized she was no longer with Stefan, but in a moving vehicle. She blinked quickly, trying to clear the cobwebs out of her mind as she rubbed at her eyes and quickly sat up, groaning as she held her throbbing head. She felt like she was hungover, but she knew it was ridiculous because she hadn't drank in awhile.

It was then it all came rushing back to her. Damon being bit by Tyler, searching for Elena with Jeremy, finding out her brother almost died, trying to go to bed only being intercepted by Stefan and his needle.

"God damn it," she groaned, holding her head as she felt the spinning come to a stop and she heard a deep chuckle in front of her. Her head snapped up and she was met with a very confusing scene, one that quickly turned to bone-deep terror. She was in the very back of a moving SUV. There was two unknown men up front, one driving and one in shotgun. Stefan was in the back behind the driver, his arms crossed tightly over his chest and he stared dejectedly out the window, everything a dark blur. And beside him was one of her worst nightmares.

"Klaus," she breathed, her voice shaky as she swallowed thickly, scooting herself back until she bumped into the rear door, dark eyes wide with fear as she pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around them. Her reaction didn't seem to be what he wanted at first as he frowned, but it was gone quickly as he smirked at her and chuckled lowly.

"Hello, love. Welcome to our caravan. I hope you enjoy your stay."


	7. Highway to Hell

**-Arlie-**

Arlie didn't answer him, just glared at him and then turned it over to Stefan who wisely kept his gaze shifted away towards the front, but by the way his shoulders hunched a bit, she could tell that he felt her gaze on him. As usual, she had no idea what was going on, and this time, she knew that nobody else did either. Stefan was being oddly quiet and if anybody else knew, she would've heard at least a little something about needing to "save Stefan" or "Stefan went to the dark side." But having had no hint of it before—and realizing that, of course, she didn't have her phone on her—she didn't know what time of night it was, or what anybody was saying about it. Though, she had a feeling that not too much time had passed since Stefan took her— _He_ drugged  _me!_ she raged in her mind—so probably nobody knew about it just yet. But come morning, they definitely would, especially when Damon found Stefan's room empty and Jeremy found Arlie's room empty.

Slowly she let go of her legs and instead crossed them under her at the same time she crossed her arms over her chest. "You're both assholes!" she snapped. "Why am I here? Where are we going?"

Klaus chuckled and turned back to face the front, the action just making her even more irritated. "All in good time, love." He shook his head and patted the seat between him and Stefan. "Now come sit up here before we get into an accident or stop quickly and you go flying."

She snorted. "Don't pretend like you care about me," she snarled. "Otherwise you wouldn't have  _kidnapped_ me. Plus, I'm pretty sure I'd rather die by flying out of this car than sit up there between the two of you."

She couldn't see his face, but she saw his jaw tick and to her shock, he merely let out a breathless laugh. "Suit yourself. But who will explain to poor Jeremy what happened to the only sister he has left?" He looked over his shoulder then, eyebrows raised. Arlie glared at him before letting out an angry huff and then began to move. She loathed that he was right, but she didn't want anybody to have to tell Jeremy—and by extension, Elena, though Klaus doesn't know that—that she died because she was too stupid to go sit in between Stefan and Klaus just because she was a bit stubborn. Plus, they lost enough, they weren't going to lose her as well.

"Fine," she grumbled.

Arlie was glad that she was somewhat small so she could wiggle between the top of the seat and the roof, sliding her legs up and over first and using her arms to push herself over, huffing again as her shorts rode up the back of her thighs, before finally she dropped unceremoniously into the seat between the two vampires. She almost fell to the floor, but Stefan quickly reached out and caught her before she did, and she heard what she thought was a low growl, but when she looked up, Stefan's face was set in a careful impassive line so the growl didn't come from him, though she saw the guilt in his eyes.

It was then she realized that he wasn't a willing participant in this little " _caravan_ ," as Klaus put it. It was then she remembered the words he said to her after he picked her up, but right before she faded into unconsciousness.  _"I'm so sorry, Arlie. This is for Damon. I had to save my brother."_ Her own eyes crumpled a little as she remembered those words, and she gave him the faintest of nods to tell him that she didn't blame him. Frankly, if it meant him or Elena and Jeremy, it would be her brother and sister every time. So the fact that she was there because he was following Klaus's orders so he could save Damon made her forgive and forget the needle poke and the drugs still working to leave her system.

"You okay?" he murmured and slowly she nodded, letting out a silent, shaky breath.

Finally she straightened up and pulled her cardigan tighter around her, huddling there between the two men that could kill her with merely a pinky. The two in the front she thought were human, but she also figured them to be compelled so if one of the vampires were to get too rough, then they wouldn't save her. She was alone in this, a small human girl, and all she could do was hope that her mouth didn't get her in trouble.

But it seemed that filter didn't register in her mouth yet as she blurted out, "Could've at least gotten me shoes." She looked down at her bare feet. She hadn't walked anywhere so they weren't yet dirty, but she figured one step outside and they would be. "I mean, if you wanted to be  _good_ kidnappers and everything."

"We'll get you shoes, love, don't worry," Klaus said, and her eyes whipped over to him in shock. He shrugged. "We'll get you whatever you want."

"You mean  _besides_ my house and siblings?"

He chuckled. "Yes, besides that," he said.

Arlie huffed and looked away from those blue eyes that always seemed to swim in her mind no matter how much she wanted them gone. It brought up everything over the past few days and she hated it, so she forced all the thoughts away as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at her bare feet. Part of her wanted to know where they were going, but she also knew that she wouldn't be told. She doubted even Stefan knew where they were going. A glance out the windshield told her they were still in Virginia, but that they were headed out of it going west. There was so much west to this country and she had never seen any of it. She had never left Mystic Falls much less Virginia, and she hated that she was excited about seeing more of the country, even if she was stuck with Klaus to do so.

* * *

For the next few hours, they were all silent, and Arlie was surprised to find herself waking up again with her head nestled on a shoulder. She yawned then, eyes squinting in the early dawn light, and then realized that she was leaning to her right instead of her left. To the right of her was Klaus and it took her longer to realize that than she was willing to admit. She was rubbing on her eyes by the time she realized she was laying against a firm shoulder covered in a dark jacket and she gasped, pulling away with a jerk, her dark eyes immediately finding the Original above her.

There was a slight moment that felt much longer to her than it actually was where they just looked at each other. He wasn't smirking or anything like that, but his eyes were a bit wider than normal, just letting them run over her facial features. Ever so slightly, crimson crept to her cheeks in a light flush and immediately his eyes were then drawn to that, which only made it darken. The breath caught in her throat as she stared at him, into those hauntingly beautiful navy blue eyes, and without her wanting to, that flash of the chapel crept back into her mind. Only this time it was quickly followed by a passionate kiss between the two of them, and then a blur of movement before she was laid out over a soft bed, the man in question hovering above her and peering down at her with utter devotion, love, and affection. He looked at her as if she were a priceless treasure, and she murmured his name, not realizing she said it out loud as in this flash, he made them one.

"Yes, love?"

The question drew her out of her thoughts and her vision went away making her crash back down into reality. She wasn't in bed with him, she wasn't kissing him, and she certainly never would. She felt nothing for him other than hatred for his actions, even though the racing of her heart tried to disagree with her. Because in her vision, all those emotions she saw in his face, she felt as well, deep down into her very soul and she wanted nothing more than just to be with him. But that wasn't them, and she didn't know why those thoughts came to her; they made no sense. She wasn't Aila, those couldn't be memories. She was Arlie Gilbert, daughter of Miranda and Grayson Gilbert, sister to Elena and Jeremy Gilbert...and niece of Jenna Sommers, the woman he murdered.

Yanking herself away violently, she bumped into Stefan and she realized when she felt him jump that he had fallen asleep as well.  _At least he didn't witness that almost-eye fucking,_ she thought to herself as she pressed herself against the younger Salvatore, panting softly as she tore her eyes away from the Original. She didn't see his face close up back into that neutral, cold gaze as he turned away from her.

"Nothing," she finally grumbled and turned to look at Stefan who was blinking away sleep and looking between the two of them warily. "Nice nap, sunshine?" she asked sarcastically with a small grin.

He chuckled. "Lovely." He yawned before he looked out the window.

"What time is it?" Arlie wondered, trying to peak up at the car radio, but the two men driving both had wide enough shoulders that no amount of trying to duck under their arms or stretch over them would allow her to see it. She frowned and sat back with a small pout.

"It is 6:30," Klaus said and she looked over at him slightly, seeing that same look on his face that appeared whenever someone mentioned Aila, but it quickly disappeared as he saw her looking at him, and that cold look stretched across him once more.

Arlie rolled her eyes. "Thanks," she muttered, looking down at her feet. It was then she realized that she was a bit chilly what with the morning just appearing and her in only shorts with no shoes on. So she pulled her legs up and wrapped her cardigan around them, giving her a bit of reprieve, but her toes still poked out and she sighed. However, it was barely a second later that she felt another coat being draped over her and she looked up, seeing that it was Stefan and he gave her a small smile.

"Vampires don't get cold," he said simply.

Arlie smiled and pulled it closer around her, trying to tuck her toes under her cardigan. "Thank you," she said softly with genuine meaning behind it.

Stefan's eyes flickered over her head to Klaus and he frowned. "We need to get her some more clothes," he said. "You made me take her," He emphasized those words, even though they both already knew she understood, "right before she was about to go to sleep. This is all she has." He gestured to her. "She's going to get sick if we don't get her warmer things."

"I know that, Stefan, I know how to take care of her," Klaus snapped and the other two looked at him in surprise. It was clear he didn't mean to blurt out those words, and his teeth snapped shut harshly as he seemed to reconsider, before he said, "I mean, I know how to take care of a woman and a human, so clearly..." He trailed off as he gestured to her.

Stefan narrowed his eyes at him, glancing down at Arlie and back up for a moment before sighing. Arlie wondered if his mind was going back to the other night when she questioned Klaus about herself looking like Aila, but Stefan wasn't dumb enough to bring it up. Even Arlie knew better than to say anything else. Emotions were running high that night and Arlie knew that the ritual was the only reason Klaus didn't kill her on the spot for bringing up his dead wife. But it was different now, his werewolf side had awoken, and they were under no rush. It would be of no qualms to him to off either Arlie or Stefan if they pissed him off.

"Just get me sweats and shoes, and I'll be fine," Arlie muttered, looking down at the floor. "Don't get all crazy and cranky because of me."

"Nonsense, love, we'll get you a whole wardrobe," Klaus said and Arlie's eyes whipped up to him again, lips parted in shock.

"Don't be stupid," she said. "I don't need a wardrobe. I have one. You know, at  _home_ where I  _should_ be." She glowered at him and he merely smirked. "By the way, why  _did_ you take me?" She raised an eyebrow as immediately his smirk fell and he looked forward, face carefully arranged. "I'm not a vampire, I can't be part of your little entourage of soldiers. I'm not a werewolf so I can't be turned into a hybrid. I'm just a human."

Klaus looked like he wanted to say something, but eventually he just smirked. "All in due time, love." And that was the end of the conversation as he leaned forward to talk to the compelled men. Arlie sighed and looked over to Stefan who simply shrugged, but both looked out the window as they slowed down and then turned into a motel parking lot. They all waited as the passenger went in and then came out with two rooms, one for the human men and then one for the two vampires and Arlie. She rolled her eyes, but knew that she wouldn't be granted her own room as they all knew she was a flight risk, not that she would know where to go if she ran anyway. Part of her knew they left Virginia, but that didn't tell her where exactly that happened to be.

With a groan, she pulled herself out of the car after Stefan did and stretched her arms above her head, feeling her back pop, her shirt raising up her body a bit showing off the creamy pale skin of her abdomen. She was unaware of the dark blue eyes on her at first, but when she dropped her arms she glanced over and saw the Original quickly spin away and stalk for the room that the compelled humans directed him to. They went to their own which left Stefan and Arlie alone in the parking lot.

"Think it would be stupid to make a break for it now?" she mumbled as she, once again, wrapped her cardigan around her body, bare feet digging into the gravel of the parking lot.

Stefan sighed. "Only for Damon," he said. At her confused frown, he shrugged. "If we run, he'll go back and infect Damon again."

Arlie's dark eyes flickered over his face before seeing only guilty resolve on his face. She sighed, but nodded and reached over to give a squeeze to his wrist.

"We'll stay," she whispered. "Until Klaus gets tired of us."

Stefan let out a humorless laugh. "I don't think he'll ever get tired of that," he said.

Arlie shrugged. "Well, then he'll just have to turn me if he wants me more than sixty years." She gave him a quirk of her lips and he matched it, glancing over her head at the door that was partially ajar, the lights inside slowly flickering on.

"Look," Stefan started, his voice lower then and Arlie leaned closer, knowing he needed for her to hear, but for Klaus not to. "I'm going to have to do a lot of things that you'll hate me for...a lot of things that  _I'll_ hate me for. But please remember who I am, remember that I'm not as much of a monster as  _he_ ," He gestured to the room, "is. Remember that I love your sister, and I love my brother...and I love you, too, Arlie. I consider you one of my best friends." Her eyes widened and her breath was suddenly caught in her throat. He nodded. "What you had said there on that hill?" He shook his head. "I'm so sorry you felt that. You're not nothing. Nobody forgets about you or leaves you out of things on purpose. We want to  _protect_ you. You're such a good person, and—forgive me for saying this—but you're so innocent. Elena didn't want you to be tainted by all of this, and we all agreed with her. You're her twin sister and she would do  _anything_  for you." He nodded as tears started to pool and then break over the edges of her eyes. Stefan reached up and wiped them away with the pad of his thumbs, pulling her closer and pressing a gentle, chaste, brotherly kiss to her forehead. "I will do  _everything_ I can to protect you in this, okay? I won't let him hurt you. I won't let  _anything_ happen to you."

His voice was strong and passionate that there was no doubt in Arlie's mind. She believed him, and for the first time since she found out about all this vampire stuff, she felt absolutely safe. There was nothing that she could say to him at that moment, nothing that would sound right or good enough for his words, and so she just quickly wrapped him up in a tight hug, softly crying onto his shoulder while he wrapped her up close to him.

"Promise?" she whispered.

"Promise," he whispered back, squeezing her once more, before pulling back. She gazed up at him with a watery smile and he smiled back, reaching up to tuck some hair behind her ears and she giggled softly.

"Quit flirting out there and get in the room!"

The annoyed yell broke through their moment and Stefan sighed, pulling back some and they both looked over to the door to the motel room. Klaus didn't look very happy to see them embracing, but he was expertly masking it as he gestured inside before turning back around. Arlie shook her head and looked up at Stefan.

"I look like his dead wife."

Stefan looked down at her in shock, pulling back to put his hands on her shoulders. She shrugged. "You want to know who Aila is? That's who. She's his dead wife. Elijah told me she died about a century after they were turned. And I guess I look like her. That's probably why he's being extra grumpy."

The younger Salvatore looked over her face before nodding slowly. "Good to know," he said quietly. "Thanks for telling me."

She nodded. "I wasn't going to. I didn't want anyone to know. But considering we're both in this together now—and you just confessed your undying love for me—I figured you had the right to know."

Stefan rolled his eyes, but her words managed to break the tension and he grinned. She mirrored it and together they walked into the motel room where Klaus waited for them.

* * *

The next time Arlie woke up, it was nearly noon and she was much more rested than she was before. She sighed softly as she sat up, pushing her cardigan off her shoulders as neither of the vampires currently bunking with her had turned the air conditioner on so it was stifling in there. Sweat pooled in the small of her back and along her hairline so she pushed the blankets off, too, looking over at the two vampires who sat in front of the window. Stefan stared out it broodingly while Klaus looked across a map of the few surroundings states and planned quietly with himself.

The human yawned and slowly detangled herself from the blankets, the movement drawing the attention of the two vampires. Stefan smiled gently at her and Klaus, it seemed, had worked on perfecting his cold stare because not a hint of the man who saw his wife in a stranger showed through him. Not that she minded; it was a relief not to have to look at him and constantly see the visions, or the longing look deep in those beautiful eyes.

 _Not beautiful,_ she scoffed to herself as soon as she thought it.  _Cold and dangerous and deadly._

Yeah, she still wasn't convinced.

Annoyed with herself, she carefully arranged her clothing and then pushed the blankets back and climbed out, ignoring the fact that her hair probably looked like a disaster. "I need a shower," she announced in way of greeting, putting her hands on her hips. "Is there at least a robe I can put on until I can get other clothes?"

Stefan got up and trailed into the bathroom, Arlie on his heels and he nodded, taking it off the back of the door. "If you can at least put your shirt and shorts back on, we can find a store to get you some other things at."

She winced. "Going commando," she grumbled. " _Joy_." She shrugged, though, supposing as far as kidnappings go, this wasn't  _quite_ so bad. Most kidnappers wouldn't even offer a shower, much less a change of clothes and a comfortable bed to sleep in. Plus she had Stefan with her and she felt safe so as far as kidnappings went—especially considering this was her second one—this had to be one of the easiest.

Stefan chuckled awkwardly for a moment and shook his head. "Well, I don't think you want me picking out your clothes," Stefan said.

Arlie shook her head adamantly. "No, that's completely okay." Her voice was firm and almost disgusted enough that he actually laughed.

"Go shower quickly and then we'll head out," Stefan said.

"We will, will we?" Klaus asked, setting the map down and turning to look at his captives. He smirked as he saw Arlie's "deer caught in the headlights" look and heard Stefan's sigh. "And exactly how do you intend to get there?"

"You said you would get her some clothes," Stefan pointed out.

Klaus nodded. "I did, however, I'm fairly certain you no longer have your wallet with you—I know this because I took it from you—so it isn't up to you where we go or what we purchase."

"You know what?" Arlie snapped, stepping forward and Klaus's smirk faded a bit. It seemed that he could do all the ribbing he wanted to Stefan and take it just as good as he got it, but the moment that Arlie stepped in, suddenly he had this look on his face like all he wanted her to do was to stop talking. But there was no way in hell she would be doing that. " _Never mind_. I don't need your money, I don't need  _Stefan's_ money. I'll wear what I have on and wash it in the damn sink."

With that she spun around, head up high as she stalked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. If he wanted a power trip, fine, she would let him have it. But that didn't mean she was going to sit around in old clothes. So once she was in there, washed up, and back out, she wrapped a towel around her and grabbed for her clothes. She put them in the sink and turned the tap on, pouring in some of the shampoo she made sure to save—even though the bottle was small enough she could've used it all in her long hair—and swirling it around before grabbing a towel. She dried off quickly and wrapped up her hair, grabbing the robe Stefan said was there. After she figured they soaked long enough, she tossed them over the shower curtain bar to let them drip dry, though she did use the hair drier on her bra and panties. She wasn't about to go out in the other room with simply a robe on.

Once that was done, she headed back into the other room, ignoring Klaus as she sent Stefan a smile, and then sat down on the bed she had vacated, luckily the one further away from the brooding hybrid. She found the TV remote and turned it on, searching through channels until she came across Buffy the Vampire Slayer re-runs and snorting in amusement.

"And to this this show very well could be true," she mumbled to herself. She glanced at Stefan and then patted the bed next to her. "Take a load off, big guy."

Stefan studied her for a moment before laughing lightly and falling onto the bed next to her, sitting with his legs crossed. "So which one is this?" he wondered.

"This is the good one. It's the one where none of them can speak because these demon things called the Gentlemen take their voices so they can't scream." She grinned. "It's my favorite one." The room was silent as they watched it and a quick glance to Stefan told her that he was completely enraptured, and that made her grin slightly.

Five episodes later, the marathon finally ended and they were pulled out of the spell with Stefan shaking his head quickly. "No no no, but I need to find out what happens next. Faith and Buffy switched bodies!"

Arlie snickered and shut the television off, turning to him with a larger amused grin. "Guess you'll have to wait 'til next week to find out." Stefan groaned and they both laughed until they heard a throat clearing and looked over to see Klaus finally had stood, looking very annoyed as he glanced between the two of them.

"We are leaving in half an hour. Be ready." With that he was gone from the room and Arlie huffed, rolling her eyes as she looked back to Stefan.

"Hopefully my clothes are dry," she said, moving to wiggle out of the bed.

"Do you want me talk to him again about getting you more clothes?"

She shook her head stubbornly. "I don't want his money, Stefan. I don't want  _anything_ from him. I just want to go home."

Stefan studied her and sighed before murmuring, "Me, too." He gave her a sad smile, patted her shoulder, and moved towards the door to give her some privacy. She sighed and went to dress, needing to use the hair dryer on a couple spots, but they were mostly dry so she put them back on along with her cardigan. She still had no shoes, but at least she had washed her feet while she was in the shower.

Marching out of the room, she made a beeline to the car, head held high as she ignored Klaus standing by the other room talking with the human men. Stefan was standing by the front bumper, and she climbed in, back into her middle seat and shut the door. Stefan joined her a moment later, raising an eyebrow at her. She just shrugged.

"I want to get the show on the road like everyone else," she said quietly. The vampire merely nodded as the compelled humans climbed in only after one opened the back door for Klaus and shut it after him. She minutely scooted closer to Stefan, deciding that if she had to be shoved back there, she would rather be pressed up against him than Klaus. She ignored the hybrid as he gave an address, though specifically didn't say the state, though she wondered if she could keep an eye out for the signs as they passed by boarders.

"Still not gonna tell me why I'm here?" she muttered, glancing over at him with a raised eyebrow. Klaus merely smirked and she sighed, slumping in her seat and crossing one leg over the other, staring dejectedly at her feet as she was so ready for this hell on wheels trip to be over.

* * *

**-One Week Later-**

Arlie was sick and tired of being on the road. Klaus and his compelled goons had driven all over the southern states evidently looking for something, but just like telling her the reasons she was there, he kept the other one to himself as well. Though it was clear why he had Stefan there; he needed a partner, for lack of a better term. Apparently Stefan had been quite the ripper in his "glory days," as Klaus put it, and Klaus wanted to turn him into that once again for his own benefit.

 _Now I know what Stefan meant when he told me he was going to do things I wouldn't like,_ she thought with a wrinkle of her nose as she watched the younger vampire piece together yet another body that he mutilated. Klaus was smirking and Arlie kept herself as far away as she could, staring at the scene with the most impassive glance she could muster. And while any human should be afraid that Stefan would suddenly turn on her, she trusted him and knew that she was probably the only exception to his rule.

And, oddly enough, she knew by then that Klaus never would let Stefan hurt her. Arlie didn't trust him, per se, that would be dumb to do. But she knew that because of her face, he protected her. Once she got too close to Stefan while he was ripping and he yanked her away, growling at Stefan until the other vampire came out of his "drunk on blood" stupor and apologized to her. That was just a day after the first motel and she didn't want to admit that not only was Klaus growing on her, but she was getting used to the constant travel and being around them.

And she didn't want to admit just how many dreams she was having of him.

Night after night, it was the same dream. The flash of the chapel, Elijah walking her down to aisle, meeting Klaus there, and fast forwarding to the night where they joined together as one. In the dream, she knew it wasn't the first time, but it felt like it because he was finally her  _husband_ , and not just her lover. She had no idea how she could know what they looked like back then, how he presented himself, but he seemed...calmer? Kinder? Gentler? And deep down she knew it was because of her.

 _No,_ she thought quickly.  _Not me._ Aila.  _I'm_ not  _her._

But no matter how many times she told that to herself, the words just seemed more and more like a lie. Of course, she never spoke a word of this to either vampire, even Stefan who she grew to trust more than she ever had before, almost as much as she trusted her own brother, which she never thought possible. But Stefan was the reason she still survived, he was the reason she was looked after and— _FINALLY!_ —after two more days of wearing and washing the same clothes, she was given a small wardrobe, of which she kept in a suitcase in the back of the SUV.

The night everything changed, she was sitting by herself in the motel room. Stefan was out on his own little bender, one of the compelled humans at his side. Klaus had left the other human by her, while he went off by himself. But he left behind his phone, and she knew very well that it wasn't intentional. Though she did know it was a test. If she looked at it, he would know, whether it was the heat from her fingers on the outside of it, or the way she positioned it back on the table. Still, curiosity did kill the cat, and so eventually she stood up and slid over to the table, eyes darting through the crack in the curtains to see Jesse—the "bodyguard" left on her detail—standing outside the door, still as a statue. Hank was the one that went with Stefan, both of them with orders to incapacitate if necessary.

_"Kill Stefan if you must, but if you harm one hair on Arlie's head, I will tear your entire family to shreds as you watch, and then perhaps I will kill you."_

Arlie had stared at him, stunned, but Jesse seemed shaken enough to follow his orders. Compelled or not, they were still aware of their surroundings and the fact they didn't want to be there anymore than she did. Part of her wished that Klaus removed the compulsion he set on them to never speak, but it's not as if they would or could tell her anything anyways, even if they did know.

Gulping slightly, she sat down at the table, sitting in such a way she could see Jesse. If he moved, she would know Klaus was back. But if he was still, then she was in the clear. Quickly she looked over it and decided that she could probably tap into a couple things without the phone moving.

Of course, her first visit was to text messages, only the passcode stopped her. She sighed, wondering if her quest has ended, but she knew she couldn't give up that quickly. She glanced out to Jesse once before beginning to type in  **0428** , the date of the full moon that the curse was broken. Nothing.  **2010** , the year. Nope.  **1000** , for one thousand years alive. Ziltch. She sighed and tried one more number before it said that she had one more try before the phone locked. Gritting her teeth, she scooted the chair back as she wasn't about to do that, because then Klaus would know that she was snooping, but then she paused.

 _No, can't be..._  she thought.

Her hand hovered over the device, wondering if she attempt, and decided if this was a test, she would do one of her own. If this didn't work, it would test Klaus's patience with her and how far he was going to let things slide with her. If it did work, it would prove to her what she was fearing this whole time.

So she began to type:  **0**...  **6**...  **2**...  **2**...  **0622** , June twenty-second, her and Elena's birthday.

 **UNLOCKED**.

The phone opened up to a plain, generic background with only the text message app, the phone app, and the calendar app on the main screen. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in surprised.

 _Test number two, then,_ she thought numbly to herself. Klaus thought she was Aila, or at least connected to her somehow. Why else would he have her birthday as his screen unlock passcode? Of course, she could just be full of herself, and it could be because of Elena's birthday, the birthdate of the doppelgänger, the one who would finally break his curse.

But she had a sick feeling it wasn't. Deep down, she knew it was there because of her.

With trembling fingers, she went right to the texting app, knowing that the call log would tell her nothing. To her disappointment, there wasn't much, only one from a number confirming the name of the motel they were in, and that told her they were in Lafayette, Louisiana, or rather just on the outskirts of it. But the other number gave her much more information. While his name wasn't displayed, she could tell which was which easy enough and she quickly scrolled up a little and went to what was in the middle of the conversation, but there was too much to scroll to the very top.

[ **text: from (1)872-555-0666** ] Are you sure it's her? Magic like that is incredibly rare. To bring her back like that, the sacrifices a witch has to make are extravagantly high.  
[ **text: to (1)872-555-0666** ] Of course, I am sure. Do you not think I would know my wife when I see her?  
[ **text: from (1)872-555-0666** ] I did not intent to offend, Klaus, only to point out the facts. If it is her, then she is more powerful than you can even comprehend.  
[ **text: to (1)872-555-0666** ] She does not display power, but I can feel it.  
[ **text: from (1)872-555-0666** ] She probably didn't know she had it. Once she realizes it and utilizes it, she would put the entire Bennett witch line to shame.  
[ **text: to (1)872-555-0666** ] Will it hurt her?  
[ **text: from (1)872-555-0666** ] Only if she uses it for dark magic. Even though she is an old soul, she is still of the light magic as witches are. Dark magics take a lot more power to gather and expel.  
[ **text: to (1)872-555-0666** ] I suppose I do not quite understand, though. How could she have this magic inside her? Her family is not of a witch line.  
[ **text: from (1)872-555-0666** ] Think about it. Powerful magics such as the ones to bring her back does not just dissipate. It lingers in her veins giving her the power. Plus, she is of the Petrova line, is she not? She might not be the doppelgänger like her sister, but that line was originated by Amara. Amara had power, though she was forced not to use it, and passed it down through the generations. Some call the magic traveler magic. These people believe it to be more pure than witch magic, and while that argument isn't one that could be proven or disproven, it still exists. And the fact that this girl has both in her veins?  
[ **text: from (1)872-555-0666** ] Klaus, she is the most powerful witch to ever exist. You have your hybrid genes to keep you safe, and she has that magic, whether she knows it or not.  
[ **text: to (1)872-555-0666** ] I will be the one to keep her safe. She is my wife.  
[ **text: from (1)872-555-0666** ] I don't doubt it. But you can only keep her physical body safe. Her soul? That is what is her magic protects. The magic brought her soul back and placed it upon Earth to be reborn. It was given to John Gilbert and Isobel Flemming to nurture and, though they did not raise her, it is their blood that strengthens her. The blood she shares with the doppelgänger, the traveler magic passed down through Amara, and the magic given to her upon her return to this world.  
[ **text: to (1)872-555-0666** ] I will keep ALL of her safe.  
[ **text: from (1)872-555-0666** ] If you want to be her savior, you have to show her the truth. You can't keep hiding it from her; that isn't fair to either of you.  
[ **text: to (1)872-555-0666** ] She isn't ready.  
[ **text: from (1)872-555-0666** ] Perhaps. But she will be soon. And when she is, bring her to me. I will show her the truth.  
[ **text: to (1)872-555-0666** ] It's my job to bring back her memories, Gloria.  
[ **text: from (1)872-555-0666** ] I will not show her her memories, Niklaus. I will show her power, her soul.

And that's where the text conversation, though what she read was enough to have her staring at the phone in horror, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. Even though the phone was still on and the message lit, she couldn't seem to move from her spot. Though the sound of a car door slamming and Jesse shuffling outside had her head whipping up and quickly she backed out of the messages, darkened the screen, and dove for her bed. She tossed off her cardigan and shoes, tugging the blankets over her head and begging her breathing to stay even, just as the door opened.

There was a pause and then a soft, "Arlie?" It was Klaus and he stayed there, watching her still form even as she huddled staring at the opposite wall in horror. But it seemed he wasn't suspicious, at least for the time being, as he sighed and shut the door after telling Jesse to go back to his own room. Klaus put stuff down on the opposite table and headed for the bathroom. Arlie forced her eyes shut and her head tilting so he couldn't see her tears, as he entered the other room and shut the door with a soft click of the handle.

Hopefully he didn't hear the way her heart pounded in desperate fear and confusion, practically breaking her ribs and sternum with how hard it pounded. She ached to know more, but that was all that was on the texting screen, plus she didn't know if she could handle any of it right then.

 _I...I_ am  _Aila,_ she whispered to herself. But how could that be true? Was the magic she was talking about reincarnation? Or something else? And if it was something else, was it the universe? Or was it some _body_ that did it? If so,  _why_? And why did she come back with no memories? Why did she come back Arlie Gilbert instead of Aila? And how was she supposed to remember it all? If she was Klaus's wife, wouldn't seeing him bring back those memories? Or even Elijah, she remembered the older Original saying how close he and Aila were. Wouldn't seeing him make her remember?

But then again, she did see those flashes of the chapel.  _Aila and Klaus's wedding day and night._ And she was haunted by dark blue eyes for awhile. And she did feel very sisterly towards Elijah while he was around. She felt as safe with him as she did Stefan.

 _What if I don't_ want  _to be Aila?_ she thought desperately.  _I just want to be Arlie Gilbert._ But she knew she didn't have a choice in it. For a moment, though, she tried to convince herself it was all silly. Klaus was wrong, she wasn't his dead wife, her face was just a coincidence. This other person— _She sounds like a witch_ —was full of crap.

But deep down, listening to the gentle rhythm of the shower in the other room, she knew that this Gloria witch was right. All of it was true, and she had been wrong all along. She could be Arlie all she wanted, but deep down she was still Aila. And she didn't know how she felt about that, though she knew she didn't have a choice. All of this was meant to happen, at some point or another.

Arlie was Aila, Klaus's dead wife. And there was nothing she could do to stop or change that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outfits for chapter seven:
> 
> \- [Taken](https://www.polyvore.com/arlie_chapter_six_seven_an/set?id=226943139)  
> \- [The Truth](https://www.polyvore.com/arlie_chapter_seven_an_eternity/set?id=227052203)


	8. Received Loud and Clear

**-Three Weeks Later-**  
**-Arlie-**

Three weeks since Arlie found those text messages, and it all seemed to spiral down from there. Stefan was changing more and more, though luckily not around her, though he killed so many more people. Klaus's patience was wearing more and more thin the more he looked for...whatever it was he was looking for. And Arlie dreaded the day she would finally meet this Gloria person, knowing that would be that her life and everything she knew in it and about it would irrevocably change...or, in her melodramatic mind,  _end_. She avoided Klaus's gaze, she avoided speaking right to him, and yet she was hurting him. And for some sad, strange, twisted reason, that hurt her more than words could say. Because she didn't  _want_ to hurt him. She didn't want to see that disappointed look on his face or the sadness in those pretty eyes. She wanted to hold him and tell him everything was okay, wind her fingers into his beautiful, short, dirty blond curls and apologize. She wanted to kiss him—

 _Whoa, hold the fucking phone! Where did_ that  _come from?!_

And those thoughts were immediately dashed as soon as she was roused from her light slumber against Stefan's shoulder. She groaned softly as she could tell even before she opened her eyes that it was nighttime and she didn't have nearly enough sleep. Luckily she had been able to have most nights to herself, whether it be laid against Stefan's shoulder—which, thankfully, he didn't mind in the least—or in her own bed in the motel room of the night. Never had they stayed in a place more than once, and though Arlie was at first a tad excited to see the country, she soon realized that its motel rooms were the best she was going to see. Well, that and the homes of the people that Klaus and Stefan slaughtered at least twice a week.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," Stefan teased, his smile less easy than it had been, but she was glad it was still there.

Arlie smiled sleepily as she yawned, stretched the best she could there in the back seat of the car, and rubbed at her tired eyes. "Very funny," she grumbled, making the Salvatore vampire laugh softly. She finally looked up at him and smirked lightly. "Aw, Stefan, I had no idea you thought I was beautiful." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Stefan rolled his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself," he said, turning to look out the window. She gasped and shoved him with all her strength, though he barely moved and just laughed at her. Arlie pouted and turned away from him, crossing her arms over her chest after she pushed the sleeves of her light gray sweater up her arms.

She had paired it with a mid-thigh length denim skirt and her usual black flip flops, mostly because she didn't have anything else. Even though it wasn't even dawn yet, she had sunglasses over her eyes because it helped her to sleep. Her sleeping pattern had changed so drastically considering she usually slept in the car or in a shotty motel and usually during the day as they drove at night to be as conspicuous as possible. Which, she supposed, was a good thing considering it was a big black SUV followed by a big box truck. Klaus refused to tell her what was in there, and it looked like Stefan knew, but he wouldn't say anything either. She had given up asking.

Taking a peek out Stefan's window, she saw they definitely weren't in the same state they were before, and faintly she thought she saw a sign that said  **Knoxville 50**.  _So we're in Tennessee,_ she thought, raising an eyebrow. As always, she wondered what was there, but just like the truck, she knew if she asked she wouldn't be getting an answer. At that point, she realized that both Stefan and Klaus wanted to protect her from the truth and so she let them have their "overprotective vampire moments," as she called them.

With Stefan, his motives were far less confusing that Klaus's. Stefan had three motives for protecting her: Elena, her, and himself. It was an odd feeling, the revelation that Stefan actually cared for  _her_ and not just because of Elena. Over the past few weeks, she and Stefan had gotten incredibly close, which she knew Klaus absolutely hated. But he was her brother, for ever reason that counted. He looked out for her, made sure she ate, and kept her away from Klaus's rages.

Which is why the Original's motives were so confusing to her, and not just because it was still crazy to her that the man could have any feelings at all let alone for her. While she still loathed the idea, she had come to terms with the fact that she was, in face, actually Aila.  _That's a lie_ , she told herself, before huffing lightly. Of course it was a lie. She hadn't come to terms with anything when it had to do with the hybrid. Even though she still remembered those text messages word for word, she still had trouble believing them and tried so hard to forget them. After her initial freak out, she told herself they were mistaken because there was noway she could be Aila.  _My name is Arlie Gilbert. It always has been and always will be,_ she thought. But she knew that's why Klaus was protecting her. She looked like Aila and therefore, to him, she  _was_. And she didn't want to be killed so she refrained from telling him the truth of the matter.

And she most definitely didn't tell Stefan about it. The last thing she needed was for him to be hurt because he went after Klaus for what the Original was up to. Besides, it felt incredibly personal, and she wasn't ready for anyone to know the truth of it yet. Stefan knew that she looked like Aila; that was more than enough for right then.

"There's a motel two miles up the road," Jesse—who was driving this time—called back to them.

Arlie glanced over at Klaus who paused before giving a slight nod at him. There was one of those looks on his faces that she knew had to do with his two companions—namely Stefan and herself—but he didn't give any indication to that as he spoke to them. "Get two rooms as usual, Jesse. And see if you can find that address we discussed. We have a real lead."

Arlie frowned and narrowed her eyes. "You're going to kill more people, aren't you?" she said, her tone accusing.

At least he had the decency to give her the slightest bit of guilt in his gaze as he glanced at her, but it soon disappeared as he raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Did you expect anything less?"

"No," she said. "I expected better."  _Just like I know Aila used to,_ she thought, wanting to say it, but holding it back. As far as she knew, Klaus didn't know about her little internal revelation, and she wasn't about to tell him right then and there that she snooped on his phone. But sometimes it was hard to look at him and not tell him everything, which she just chalked up to his whole vampire nature rather than the fact that Aila was somewhere deep inside her wanting to break free and become Klaus's wife again.

However, she felt her heart squeeze in a way she hated when Klaus's face fell at her words and to disguise her feelings, she looked back over to Stefan who had wisely kept himself out of it and looked out the window. When he felt her eyes on him, he looked over and smiled slightly.

"Still tired or more marathoning?" he wondered.

Arlie scoffed. "You really  _are_  addicted to Buffy, aren't you?"

Stefan looked away from her. "I have no idea what you're talking about.

Arlie scoffed and shoved his shoulder, causing him to laugh.

Suddenly the SUV came to an abrupt halt and Arlie squeaked, nearly being tossed onto the floor, but soon two strong vampire hands jerked her back into her seat. The fact that one belonged to Stefan and one to Klaus wasn't lost on her even as she breathed quickly in and out in a pant. Her heart raced then, flipping around in her chest, her dark eyes wide with fear. While she wasn't necessarily afraid of cars, she was afraid of car accidents. She had never been in one herself, but the fact that her parents died in one and her twin nearly did, it shook her. The loud squeal of the tires, the jolting of the car, the way she was nearly thrown onto the floor.

 _Next time: seat belt,_ she thought, even though the law didn't require anyone over sixteen to wear a belt in the back. Arlie sent a grateful look to both men—ignoring the way Klaus's face physically melted right before her into a look of softness—before Klaus growled and he yanked himself out of the car to see what was happening. She noticed then that both Jesse and Hank were already out as well, and the box truck that was usually behind them was stopped at a dead halt in front of them.

Stefan gestured for her to stay back as he climbed out, which caused her to roll her eyes and climb out as well. He gave her an annoyed look and she raised an eyebrow in defiance which made him sigh in defeat. She grinned and knew enough to stay close to him as they walked over to join Klaus, Jesse, Hank, and the compelled human men she didn't know too well considering they stuck with the truck nearly twenty-four hours a day. But she did know one was Nate and one was Dave, and they both looked exhausted, but alert as they glanced around.

"We saw one, boss," the taller of the two—Dave, she was pretty sure—said to Klaus who stepped dangerously closer to the man who easily had six inches on him, and yet backed down like he was staring straight and a three headed shark with his partner the five headed lion.

"Where?" Klaus growled.

Dave gestured over to the left, though kept his eyes firmly on his feet. "Went that way," he mumbled.

Arlie frowned. "What did?" she demanded, causing Jesse, Hank, Nate, and Dave looked over at her like she was crazy. She raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. None of them really understood why she was there. At first she didn't either, but she was pretty sure she understood after seeing those texts. And while she knew that she couldn't get away with  _everything,_ there wasn't a whole lot that she couldn't.

She almost smirked as Klaus's jaw tensed and the four men expected him to go crazy on her, but they all saw him let out a slow breath as he calmed himself and turned to her with a blank expression. "Don't worry your pretty little head, love," he said simply.

"Aww, you think I'm pretty?" She batted her eyelashes at him in false flattery and he rolled his eyes, though she could see him fighting a smile, which stumped the other humans even more.

"No, Arlie," he said, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "I think you're beautiful." Any trace of humor on her face vanished and she went bright red causing Klaus to smirk and Stefan to disguise a laugh with a cough. She sent a glare to him over her shoulder and he gave her an innocent smile, earning himself a roll of her eyes. "Dave," Klaus barked then, changing the subject. Arlie sometimes got dizzy with his mood swings, but she knew that their little journey away from the issue at hand was going to be short lived. Still, it sometimes felt nice that she could get his focus on something else other than his little mission. It made her feel special—

 _No. No no no, don't even go near there,_ she thought immediately, shaking herself of her thoughts.

"—the trail," Klaus was saying, geturing into the woods. Dave truly looked like he didn't want to go, but he was compelled to do whatever Klaus wanted without complaint and report back. "But don't interact with them; you'll get yourself killed. Just find them and report back. We'll be at the motel."

Dave simply nodded, sighing under his breath after Klaus turned around to head back to the SUV, only he paused partway there. "Nate, you drive the truck, but if you stop suddenly like that again and anything happens to them, you will live to regret it."

" _Them_?" Arlie muttered to Stefan who merely gave her a pressed smile, letting her know that he did indeed know what— _who_?—was in there. She huffed out a sigh and turned, striding quickly back to the SUV and climbing in the middle seat, pulling the buckle across her waist. Stefan and Klaus climbed back onto either side of her and it was silent until they were in the motel room with Arlie changed into some pajamas—white cotton short, a light pink t-shirt that said  **Nap** on it, and a black cardigan—before standing in front of the vampires who were discussing something in quick, hushed tones at the table.

Slowly they stopped talking as they noticed her there and they both frowned up at her, though Stefan was the only one who looked guilty this time. "Something wrong, Arlie?" he wondered.

"Don't play dumb," she snapped. "I want to know what's going on. What did the truck almost hit?  _Who's_ in the back of it? What are you chasing? Why are we in Tennessee? And why am  _I_ here?" All her questions were directed at both of them, eyes flickering back and forth, though the last one was just for Klaus and she sent him an accusatory look, which actually made him look away. "I'm tired of not having answers. It's been over a month, and I haven't been able to talk to my brother at all! We just lost our aunt and sister; we should be together in this."

While she knew that she could've snuck a call to Elena or Jeremy, she didn't want to risk them tracking it and coming to find her and getting hurt. She knew her twin and knew Elena was looking for her, though all of Arlie's energy was going into not worrying about her, because if she did, there would be nothing else she would think of. Elena was strong and could get through anything. And she had Jeremy there with her. If Arlie dwelled on the separation from her siblings for too long, she would be in tears. As it was, just mentioning Jeremy then had some swimming in her eyes and she tried to force them back, though clearly both vampires saw. Stefan sighed and Klaus frowned as the younger vampire got up to embrace her.

"It's safer if you don't know," he whispered as she sighed and wrapped her arms around him. "Otherwise we would've told you."

"So you're telling me," she started, her voice muffled against his shoulder, "that the information is  _so dangerous_ , that not only will a regular vampire not be able to protect me, but the indestructible, un-killable Original hybrid won't either?" She pulled back and eyed them both. "So does that mean that whatever you're tracking is even more indestructible and stronger than both of you put together?"

Klaus actually looked miffed as he, too, stood. "Don't be silly," he said, smirking smugly and Arlie huffed. "There is nothing stronger than me."

"Then if you're stronger, you can protect me against whatever it is, right?" she said. He opened his mouth to deny it, but then snapped it shut because he knew he was caught. "So... _tell me_ what it is."

The vampires exchanged a look before Stefan looked back to her. "We're looking for werewolves," he finally said, his voice softer.

Arlie frowned. "You mean like Tyler?" she wondered.

He nodded. "Yeah, but a specific pack. I guess there's one that's known for loyalty and strength. Klaus wants to turn them into hybrids." His face twisted oddly and it was then that she knew he wasn't all for this plan in the least, but he was doing what he could to keep Klaus busy so he didn't know Elena was alive, and to keep him away from Arlie as well, not knowing that she was the last person that would be in danger from him. Plus that meant that everyone he had been killing were either informants or dead-ends of Klaus's little plan, and he was just cleaning up for him.

"And I'm here for...what?" she wondered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Seducing the leader of the pack so you can take out the rest of them before you take him down?"

Klaus's jaw ticked and his eyes hardened. "You are here because this is where you belong," Klaus snapped, his outburst drawing confused and shocked looks from Stefan and Arlie both and when he realized what he said, he turned away from them and gathered up the map that had been spread over the table, now marked with different colored lines and Xs, though Arlie didn't know what they meant. "Stefan, come. Arlie, you are staying here as usual. Jesse is going with Dave to search, Hank will be at your door."

Arlie studied him for a moment before giving him a curt nod and turning on her heel, damp hair swinging over her shoulders as she went to the bed and turned to the Ion station for the CSI marathon she had heard about a couple days previously. She wasn't unaware of the fact that she had now completed that series, Law and Order SVU, Criminal Minds, Buffy, and NCIS in full because of her time spent alone in the motel rooms.

It was incredibly lonely.

But she wasn't up for arguing with the hybrid and part of her didn't want to see that look of sadness on his face, that part she always squashed down.

"Don't watch Buffy without me," Stefan warned and she gave him a lopsided grin, making him chuckle and leave after the agitated Original. When he was gone, the smile fell away from her lips and she sighed, making herself comfortable on the bed.

Since that night she found out the truth, Klaus hadn't left his phone again, and she knew that he always had the phone service to the motel landlines disconnected. He wasn't stupid. So Hank's hulking form outside the door was the only company. She sighed and stood, pulling the curtains shut, before heading back into the bathroom to wash some of her other clothes from the past week, letting the CSI episode play loudly while she worked.

If that weren't up so loud, she would've heard the scuffle outside the door, the way Hank called out in panic before being silenced by the knife cut across his throat, laying dead in a heap in the doorway. However, she definitely heard the loud slam against the door, making it splinter. She jumped, her eyes going wide and she pun quickly. The television still blared, but she knew that there was someone else in there as she heard the footsteps, even though they were soft. And she knew it wasn't Hank because he would have a key, and that was the only indication that something was wrong.

Quickly, but quietly, she shut the bathroom door and turned the bolt on the handle, backing up to the opposite wall. Breath came out quickly, her heart racing with fear as she tried desperately not to be afraid. But terror was very well alive in that moment because she knew that this person wasn't supposed to be there.

 _Klaus! I need you!_ her mind screamed out and in that moment, she didn't stop it. Because it was true; she needed him. Despite the fact that she very well hated him and had been kidnapped by him—or rather Stefan doing his bidding, but semantics—she knew he protected her. Not once had anything harmed her that whole month being with him. And despite the fact that she was desperately trying to deny being any part of the whole Aila fiasco, she still knew he believed it and he would be keeping her safe.

So she yelled for him, a silent scream she sent across time and space in a desperate attempt to call out to that bond between soulmates he believed was there. It was a stupid and silly notion, she knew it, but it was better than sitting there and being too terrified to do anything.

Glancing around, she cursed when she saw there was no sort of weapon in there other than the hair dryer. Having no better advantage, she grabbed it, fingers shaking as she pulled the plug carefully from the wall and held it in front of her like a baseball bat. For a moment all time stood still until the bathroom door banged open and she let out a yelp.

The man in the doorway she didn't know, but he looked furious and... _are those_ gold eyes _?!_ she thought quickly, going back to the flash of Klaus's hybrid face in her mind. If so, that meant this man must be a werewolf, because only Klaus and the werewolves had the gold eyes. The vampires' eyes were crimson. Still, it was closer and closer to full moon which meant that this man was almost at his peak strength and she had no chance, but she had to try.

With a small grunt, she launched the hair dryer at him, and he was shocked enough to fumble with it for a moment, and she was small enough that she ducked under his arm and made a bolt for the door. She heard him growl and soon there was a thump before she was grabbed around the waist and yanked back into the bathroom.

" _No_!" she fought, her voice a hoarse cry as she kicked and punched and tugged, grabbing onto the dresser and walls as she tried to pass. But the man was too strong and tossed her into the bathroom like a rag doll, throwing her against the opposite wall hard enough that the plaster crumbled under her and her head spun, clearly giving her a concussion.

The man was over her then, holding her arms to her sides as she desperately tried to wiggle away, though it was sluggish as her entire body thrummed with pain and her head spun.

"Sorry, kid, this ain't personal," he said, and to her surprise, he actually sounded genuinely remorseful. "You ain't part'a this. But we been keepin' a close eye on the hybrid. We know you're human, but you mean somethin' to him. We need to send him a message to leave us alone. You're just collateral damage."

"You're..." she breathed, squeezing her eyes shut as talking hurt her head and her chest, which she figured was from the ribs she felt rubbing together.  _He threw me harder than I thought,_ she thought irritably. "...you're gonna die."

He chuckled humorlessly. "Probably. But my pack ain't. Gotta keep 'em alive somehow. Maybe the hybrid'll listen."

With that he shuffled and brought something out of his coat pocket. Her eyes flickered opened and widened when she saw the deadly twelve-inch blade he was wielding, holding it high above her.

"Please," she whimpered then, a couple tears leaking out of her eyes as fear pushed through her even harder than before, her weak body slumping to the floor as she shook her head. "I don't wanna die."

For a moment the man's facade crumbled, but he quickly stowed it and shook his head. "Sorry, kid," he said again, and his hand came down.

She screamed loudly then, feeling as it tore through her abdomen. At least he didn't take it with him; removing it would've hurt much worse. After he stabbed her, he stood and fled the motel room, leaving the bathroom door wide open and Hank in the middle of the doorway, closing it most of the way, not that it would matter anything.

Arlie sobbed as her hand flopped uselessly around on the ground, wanting to drag herself away, but with the blood quickly draining out and the concussion, she was fading from consciousness and fast.

"Help," she croaked weakly, her voice not nearly loud enough to be heard over the loud television show. "Help me..." She sniffed and coughed, wincing at the coppery flavor of her own blood. "Please... Help me...  _Klaus_..."

And then darkness overtook her vision.

* * *

**-Stefan-**

"Something's not right."

Stefan and Klaus were walking through the woods in the opposite direction of Dave and Jesse when the Original stopped in his tracks. The younger vampire actually had to backtrack his footsteps about a quarter of a mile because they had been running and Klaus had stopped before Stefan even noticed it. It was the Original's voice that spurred him to halt and he turned back, quickly going to his side and looking around with a frown.

"What do you mean?" he wondered. " _Nothing's_ right. I don't know what Dave saw, but there are no hints of wolves in these woods. At least not over here."

Klaus shook his head and turned back the way they came, the frown becoming deeper and Stefan could swear he saw what could be only described as dread falling over his face.

"Not the wolves," he said. He held up a hand and acted as if he were listening to something, eyes closed as he let his natural senses take over. For a moment Stefan thought he was going to just say it was nothing, but the hybrid's eyes popped open and a look of horror fell over his face. " _Arlie_ ," he breathed.

Stefan didn't need to know anything else, and he didn't need to know ask how Klaus knew something was wrong. This was  _Arlie_ , they were talking about. It didn't matter if Klaus just had a hunch and they wound up barging in on her marathoning CSI or just getting to sleep. It was worth taking a look just to make sure there was nothing to worry about.

The younger vampire realized as soon as they got back to the motel that he should've had more faith in Klaus's sense.

The first thing they obviously noticed was Hank dead in front of the door, which was partially opened. Inside they could hear the television blaring a CSI episode, but there was no other sound in there. Even over the TV, usually they could hear her breathing whether it was the steady breathing of sleep, or the slightly less steady breathing of consciousness. And even more alarming...they couldn't hear a heartbeat.

Klaus seemed to realize this just a second after Stefan did as he breathed, " _No_ " and then quickly sped into the room, Stefan on his heels. Both of them stepping over Hank, something that could be taken care of later. The room was relatively normal at first glance, but then they saw a spray of wood on the ground which was obviously from the door that someone kicked in. The covers on the bed were tugged away from the foot and all nearly on the floor. But it wasn't so much that they were worried about as the blood they were beginning to smell, the delicious coppery smell seeping into the main room and getting stronger and stronger, meaning someone was bleeding out.

"Arlie!" Stefan quickly called, his voice full of panic as he raced into the other room. He stopped in the middle of the door, eyes wide with horror. "No. No no no,  _Arlie_. Arlie, no, you're not dead. Come on,  _you're not dead_." The paleness of her lips, the puddle of crimson on the ground, and the shiny knife sticking out of her belly told him otherwise.

A moment later he was by her side, quickly pulling her up and onto his lap, taking every amount of strength he had not to be effected by the blood. But she was far more important than his need to satiate his bloodlust, even as it soaked into his jeans. It worried him when she didn't make a sound, and her head flopped onto his thigh. Her skin was cold as he patted her cheeks and he reached down to quickly pull out the knife, which she didn't even resist, her body jerking lightly at the movement.

"No no no," he breathed. "No, come on, you're going to make it. Don't leave me now; I can't lose you, too. Jeremy can't."  _Elena can't_. He bit it back before he said it, faintly remembering Klaus in the other room. "Come on, Arlie."

With that he brought his wrist up and bit into it, the tang of his own blood hitting his tongue, but he ignored it as he brought her closer, hands shaking.

" _No_. I'll do it."

He looked up quickly at Klaus in the doorway, shocked at the look on the Original's face. Nearly ragged and full of rage and fury, guilt and devastation, regret and shame. Stefan opened his mouth to argue, but the look Klaus shot him had him closing it again, and quickly Stefan shifted Arlie over to Klaus, who kneeled down on the other side. The hybrid held her close, gently tucking some hair behind her ear and Stefan stood up, going to stand in the doorway while Klaus helped her.

"You can't leave me," he whispered, his voice cracking ever so slightly and though they both knew Stefan could hear, the younger vampire made the right decision to not say anything. "Not again. Please don't leave me, love..." Stefan smelled the blood when Klaus bit his wrist and he held it up to her, holding her closer at a better angle. "Come on, come on. You can do it, sweetheart, I know you can. Come on,  _live_."

At first they both thought it was too late, but then Stefan heard Klaus let out a small gasp and he turned around, watching as Arlie's lips wrapped around the wound and she tugged from his veins. Immediately the color began to return to her, starting at her lips and slowly spreading out. The bleeding began to stop and if they listened closely, they could hear ribs popping back into place. They hadn't noticed before, but there was a large dent in the wall behind them which meant she had probably been tossed there before being stabbed, and Klaus let out a light growl.

Once he knew she had enough, Klaus brought his wrist away and picked her up as she slept it off. She might be a little sore when she woke, but she would be alive and that's what mattered. Stefan shut off the television and dragged Hank's body into the room as Klaus tucked her into bed, her dark hair spilling out over the pillow.

The hybrid didn't move from that spot for the whole night, fingers stroking over her cheek as he watched her sleep.

* * *

**-Arlie-**

_"Klaus." she breathed out, her beautiful brown eyes wide with fright, but then she squeaked as Mikael shook her a bit and tightened his hold on her._

_"Aila," he whispered right back, but his eyes hardened and turned blood red, veins appearing under them as he faced his father. "Let her go," he growled._

_"This is your fault, Niklaus," Mikael said, ignoring what Klaus just said. "If you had not run, Aila would not be in this predicament. She could have been at peace a century ago." Klaus growled. "She deserves that. You see that, do you not? She is kind and smart, and very beautiful. She does not deserve to live the life of a monster because you are too selfish to let her go." He paused as Klaus growled again and stewed his own guilt that Mikael kicked up._

_"She belongs with me," Klaus finally hissed, refusing to admit to Mikael just how much his words hurt, and the fact that he was right._

_Mikael sighed. "Oh, Niklaus." He shook his head. "No, she does not. Because you do not deserve her. She deserves peace...and you deserve loneliness."_

_And with that, Mikael struck, bringing his arm up as Klaus roared as she screamed, the stake shredding through the soft skin of her chest, breaking her sternum, and eventually burying in the strong muscle that held her life. Aila felt herself dying, the way her veins turned to dust and her body withered, her eyes drinking in the sight of her husband greedily as she left this world, hand reaching out for him desperately one final time._

With a gasp, the brunette bolted up in bed, beads of sweat dotting her forehead as she panted through her confusion. The dream felt so real, real enough that for a moment, she wasn't sure what was reality and what was in her mind. It was another vision, only this time it was of her death...no,  _Aila's_  death. She saw the woman die, only it wasn't as if she were a third party in the room...she  _was_ Aila. She felt the stake slicing her and striking her heart, felt the way she desiccated and the strength with which the man— _Mikael_ , she remembered—held her so she couldn't get away.

She felt the terror and heartbreak as she watched Klaus's horrified face as she died, reaching for him to save her, but knowing it was too late. She faded from him and she left him alone, and that was worse than any fear she had for herself. She wasn't afraid to die; she was afraid to leave her husband alone, knowing what he could become, knowing how much it would hurt him.

"Arlie?"

The very voice of her dreams and she nearly jumped out of her skin, eyes flickering over to the man in question. Looking so different than he did in the dream, but still so beautiful, she nearly reached for him. But it was the shock of her name,  _her_ name and not Aila's, that brought her back to reality. The reason she remembered the feeling of being stabbed was because of the werewolf that broke in and stabbed her while she was alone there, not because she felt Aila's death. The dream was just that; she knew it couldn't have really happened because  _she wasn't Aila_.

And yet, even though she knew the difference then, it still felt too incredibly real to be anything but the truth.

And that scared her more than anything.

"Klaus," she whispered, her voice cracking, and then she surprised them both: she flung off the covers over her body and crawled into his arms, desperately clinging to him as she sobbed into his shoulder. For a second, his entire body was rigid, but it was barely a second that went by before he wound his arms around her and tugged her onto his lap, cradling her there as she cried. And for a girl who didn't cry in front of people often, much less Klaus the terrifying Original hybrid, it was saying something about how messed up she was over the situation. Even if she didn't have the dream, she was sure that she would be right there in his arms anyway. But the dream made everything more real, and even though she didn't want to, she was starting to believe that the witch Klaus texted was right.

"You'll be okay, love," he whispered to her, pulling out of her thoughts, his fingers winding into her hair making her eyelids flutter. "I won't ever leave you alone again. I promise."

She sniffed and nodded against him, eyes flickering shut as sniffled against him. And Arlie  _believed him_. She believed everything he said right then, and inside she was crying out to stay right where she was, right there in his arms. It was like she felt the nine hundred years of starving for him come out, and no matter how much she fought it, it was there deep inside begging to come out. And she knew that after this moment of weakness was over, she would probably fight it again, but right then she didn't want to. In that moment, she was Aila going back to her husband and crying with him after being forced to separate.

"Mikael killed her," she whispered, and the hand in her hair stopped. It seems Klaus's whole body did, going rigid once again, though he didn't push her away. "I-I don't know who Mikael is, I only know his name. He staked her in the foyer. She was wearing a white dress, and when he staked her, she caught on fire, and reached for you as she burned."

" _Stop_ ," Klaus demanded, a whimpered growl coming from his throat as he begged her, gently setting her down onto the bed next to him and standing. He turned away from her and her eyes had flickered open just in time to see the way he trembled, but also to see how hard he fought it.

"I'm right?" she whispered as she studied him, pulling her legs up to her chest, barely noticing that nothing hurt, but she did feel the roughness of dried blood on her skin.

The Original didn't say anything other than one quick, barely noticeable nod. Her eyes widened and she stood, opening her mouth to say something, but then the door swung open. Klaus immediately fell into defensive mode, but it broke when they both saw Stefan standing there. He was covered in dirt and carrying a shovel, of which he quickly dropped when he saw them standing there.

"Arlie," he breathed and she quickly ran for him, mind moving passed the moment with Klaus and into her friendship with Stefan, needing the warmth and comfort and safety and security that he brought, the sense that everything  _made_ sense and nothing was at all confusing. He was her sister's boyfriend, her new found brother, and her best friend.

Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and he scooped her up, her feet a few inches off the floor as he held her tight, pressing his face against her shirt, both of them knowing he was getting her all dirty, but neither of them minding.

"Stefan," she murmured in a sighed response, closing her eyes and doing the same, her face in his neck.

"I was out burying Hank," he said, and faintly she remembered seeing him dead at the door, but her mind was muddled as to what happened before she was attacked. It would probably come back, but she didn't say anything then, just nodded.

"I'm glad you're back," she said.

"I'm glad  _you're_ back," he repeated with a soft sigh, finally letting her down to her feet and he brought his hands up to cup her cheeks, eyes flickering over her face. "You okay? Klaus's blood seemed to do the job."

Her eyes widened a fraction. " _Klaus's_ blood?" She turned then to look at the Original, who she realized was sitting on the other bed silently looking over his map once against, his face set in such a way she was sure that the subject of Aila was dropped and she knew that it would be awhile before it got brought back up, so she silently sighed.

Stefan nodded. "I was going to, but he did it."

Arlie nodded slowly in response. She patted Stefan's hand and took a step away from him, closing the distance between her and Klaus once more. It was painfully obvious he didn't want to say anything to her right then, he wanted to shut it all down and not think of Aila or the pain of her, he didn't want to see Arlie right then as the girl with his dead wife's face, and he didn't want to show any emotions that might have been brought back up. But when he gazed up at her in question, the blank look on his face dissolved into one of hopelessness.

But she dashed it as she leaned over and gently pressed a kiss to his cheek, pulling back to view the wonder that spread over his face, longing soon following and she saw and heard his fingers crunching the paper of the map in his fists as he fought his emotions.

"Thank you for saving me," she whispered then, giving him the smallest of smiles. She reached down to squeeze the wrist of the hand that held the paper, lingering for just a moment, before pulling back. She shot a look to Stefan who gazed at her knowingly and she simply smiled at him as well in response. "I'm going to go shower off this blood and change," she said, padding over to grab her bag.

A sigh escaped her at the broken door handle, but she was positive neither vampire would be peaking. She shut it the best she could and was grateful to whoever mopped up the pool of blood that had surely been on the floor. The wall was still broken, but that was unavoidable. She put her blood-stained clothes in the trash—knowing that neither she nor either of them would want a reminder of this incident—and then started soaking her other clothes in the sink with some soap to be washed. She showered and once she was done, dressed in some clean dark gray sweats, a plain black racerback tank, and her cream colored cardigan.

She hung up her other clothes to dry and then went into the other room, smiling as she saw Stefan on her bed and Klaus quietly sitting on the other, both watching the show playing, an old rerun of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Apparently the CSI marathon still running would be too much for them considering, and she didn't blame them. She knew it could be awhile before she could stomach it either.

Climbing into bed, Stefan pulled her closer and she lay her head on his shoulder, sighing as she immediately felt ready to fall asleep. And when she did, she was comfortable and secure, but deep down, she couldn't fight the feeling that she wished it was Klaus's arms she was wrapped up in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outfits for chapter eight: 
> 
> \- [On the Road](https://www.polyvore.com/arlie_chapter_eight_an_eternity/set?id=226998945)  
> \- [Bedtime/Attack](https://www.polyvore.com/arlie_chapter_eight_an_eternity/set?id=227181078)  
> \- [Refreshed](https://www.polyvore.com/arlie_chapter_eight_an_eternity/set?id=227191295)
> 
> Other links:
> 
> \- [AEoM OCs](https://www.polyvore.com/an_eternity_misery_ocs/set?id=227185318)


End file.
